Phoenix Among Dragons
by Minerva Aemilius
Summary: Story by wolves134, ghostwritten by me. Two teenage girls, kidnapped as infants and turned into chimeras, join the Elric brothers in their adventures. As the girls struggle to hide their secrets, Roy and Riza search for the truth behind a failed rescue mission from 12 years ago that continues to haunt them both. First anime AU. Eventual EdxOC, AlxOC, and Royai.
1. Prologue

_Credits: FMA is by Hiromu Arakawa, but the plot of this story and its original characters belong to __wolves134 (a.k.a. wolves3000 on deviantART), __with ghostwriting by me.__ Early chapters are rewrites of a partial story by wolves and sweetxmakiko from quizilla. The cover art is by noodlemie from deviantART.  
__  
Timeline notes: __This is a first anime AU fanfic. The first chapter is entirely a flashback, and the rest of the_ chapters will each start with a brief flashback followed by the main story. The main story time period is referred to as "Present Day" (same as the first anime, around 1914), and the flashbacks will be labeled in relation to that date (e.g., "Twelve Years Ago"). While the story generally follows the first anime timeline, there will be some noticeable differences. 

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Twelve Years Ago  
Central City_

Test Subject B awakened and opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the liquid surrounding her. Above the bulky breathing mask fitted over her mouth and nose, her vision gradually came back into focus: a tall, thin man with long, greasy black hair and a ragged goatee, in a white lab coat and glasses, was peering at her through the glass wall of her tube, making notes on a clipboard. When he had finished writing, the man pressed a button and the liquid around her began to drain away. Her heart began to beat faster with anxiety; it was time for experiments again. But she was comforted by the thought of the food she would receive afterward.

With the liquid gone, the front of the tube slid open. The mask stopped pumping and the girl reflexively pulled it away, coughing as she readjusted to breathing the room's air. While the man busied himself with some nearby equipment, she pushed tangled strands of reddish-brown hair and blue feathers away from her face and hugged herself to try to stay warm; she was dressed only in thin underwear and still soaking wet. _Are you awake?_ she silently called to her companion in the adjacent tube. There was no response, but the other girl would be awakened soon, she was certain. The routine had been the same for all of the three years they had been alive.

She shivered as the man wrapped a towel around her small body and picked her up, then carried her to an examination table and strapped her down. He rarely spoke to his test subjects, only when he was in a very good mood, and when he did it was often in large words they didn't understand, words like _selenium _and _molybdenum _and _decomposition_. But that was OK. They didn't like the man at all—his experiments usually hurt—and it was better when he didn't talk. They couldn't have answered him even if they'd wanted to. Neither girl had the ability to speak out loud the way he could, and he couldn't hear their thoughts the way they could hear each other's.

The man moved to the other tube, labeled Test Subject A, releasing the liquid and opening the glass as he had for the first. The brown-haired girl inside awoke and coughed as she removed her own breathing mask, carefully sliding its strap over the gray wolf's ears on her head, and silently greeted her friend _Hello._

_Experiment time again,_ sighed B.

_At least we'll get some food afterward,_ A sighed back.

The man wrapped the second girl in a towel and brought her to the other examination table. He was about to strap her down as well when a loud alarm began blaring, startling all three of them. "What in god's name—" the man muttered, but he looked frightened. "Stay here," he ordered the girls absently as he ran from the room.

_What's happening? _B asked fearfully, craning her neck from her restrained position. _Why did the man run away?_

_I don't know. _A sat up on her table. _But I'm not strapped down. We should run away too!_ Experimentally she slid from the table, stumbling and nearly falling as her legs wobbled uncertainly—it had been awhile since they'd been out of the tubes—then righting herself. She ran to B's table and began trying to undo her restraints.

Outside, they heard noises all from around their building: people shouting, running. A's small hands fumbled at the straps, unable to work out how the buckles opened. _You should run away! _urged B, her eyes wide with fear. _Go hide somewhere—_

_No! We'll go together! _A replied determinedly. But from one of the windows near the ceiling came a bright flash of blue light, causing both girls to gasp silently. Above their heads the window was opening, a man's face peering down at them. He began to climb into the room—

_Run away!_ B screamed at her companion. _RUN! _

And with a last terrified look at her trapped friend, A turned and fled out the door.

The man was in the room now, and B's heart hammered with terror. He was a big man, unlike any she'd ever seen, with a large white mark across his face in the shape of an 'X'. She whimpered in fear as he quickly approached her, unfastened her restraints with no difficulty, and picked her up in his arms. The shouting and running were louder now, moving inside the building with them. The man used one hand to slide the examination table under the high window, leapt up upon it, and then launched himself and the girl out of the window into the street. With her still in his arms, he took off running into the night, threading quickly through the streets and far from the receding shouts.

-o-o-o-o-

"Havoc, Falman, Fuery, cover the first floor! Hawkeye, Breda, with me!" Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang shouted. Without waiting for a response, he kicked down the metal door of the large brick building they were raiding and burst in, his gloved hands poised to snap, ready to rain down fire on anyone or anything that got in his way.

He ran down the corridor, trusting that Riza was keeping up behind his back and Breda behind her, both with guns armed and ready to fire. No one was in sight. Outside in the night, surrounding the nondescript building in Central City's warehouse district, more soldiers from the Investigations Division stood guard. But not enough—there were too many potential exits and no way to cover them all, a fact that scared him more than he could admit to his troops.

"This way," Roy shouted over his shoulder, running toward a staircase leading to the basement. After a quick scan to make sure no one was waiting to ambush them, he plunged down the stairs, Hawkeye and Breda following after.

-o-o-o-o-

Test Subject A ran through the hallway in blind panic. Terrifying noises—shouting, banging—were coming from the stairs at one end of the hall, so she ran to the other end, where a ladder led up to a small trap door in the ceiling. She climbed it frantically and burst through the trap door, which led to a tunnel that she had to get down on hands and knees to fit through. Warm air rushed past her as she crawled as quickly as she could. The tunnel led in three different directions; the first two were blocked by whirring fans, but the third led to another small door, and when the girl pushed her way through it, she found herself on the ground outside in the darkness. Shouting voices could still be heard around her, but there were no people in sight. Her heart still racing with terror, she thought mournfully of the friend she had abandoned inside, her eyes filling with tears.

"Make a sweep of the perimeter!" a man's bellow came from around the side of the building. The girl took off running again, crouching down behind the next building. She ducked out of sight just in time as a pair of men dressed in blue ran by. Hugging the shadows, she continued creeping to the next building, then the next, away from the voices.

With the shouts growing fainter behind her, as she rounded one corner she gasped silently and froze. A man in blue was sprawled out on the ground, lying on his stomach with the side of his face pressed against the pavement. She could hear him breathing—was he sleeping? Silently she tiptoed past him. Rounding the next building she saw no one else, and the voices were far away now. Ahead of her stretched a long, empty street. Taking a chance, she stopped creeping and simply ran.

-o-o-o-o-

Roy burst into the basement room—as their intel had told them, it was a laboratory. Scanning frantically, his eyes took in two huge glass tubes standing upright, still containing the remains of some clear liquid, each with a small breathing mask lying within. Each was large enough to have held a young child. Nearby were two metal examination tables, also both child-size, with restraints at the waist, arms and legs. Above their heads, a breeze blew through an open window at ground level. There were no people anywhere in sight. Roy stopped, breathing hard from running, and stared at the equipment in front of him. "There's no one here!" he exclaimed in frustration.

"Our intel said the girls would be here in this room," Riza said, her voice taut. Breda stayed silent, waiting for orders as his eyes swept between the two officers.

Roy grabbed the communications radio from his waist and spoke urgently into it. "Mustang here. There's no one in the basement lab. Tell me you found something, Havoc!"

There was a delay, then a crackle of static from the radio. "Fallman here, sir. Affirmative. We have a suspect in custody. Havoc's questioning him." Roy and Riza both let out a relieved sigh, exchanging hopeful looks.

"Where are the kids, Fallman?!" Roy shouted so loudly that the radio squealed with feedback.

There was another long pause. Then Fallman answered more quietly: "The suspect says they were in the basement, sir. He swears it. He seems like he's telling the truth."

Eying the open window, Riza grabbed her own radio and yelled into it, "Investigations Team! Did anyone leave this building?!"

"Campbell here. We've seen no one, ma'am," replied a man's voice, his tone urgent. "But we've lost contact with Jenkins. Ross and Brosh are heading to his position—stand by."

Without waiting for orders, Riza turned and sprinted back up the stairs. "Breda, secure this room and then go help Havoc!" Roy yelled as he ran after her.

-o-o-o-o-

In an alley several blocks away, the scarred man came to a stop and shifted the small girl in his arms. Limp with fear, she stared at him with wide eyes as he held her at arm's length, studying her. Her coloring was strange: unnaturally reddish-brown hair, dark brown eyes, pale skin. More insidiously, she had what appeared to be _feathers _emerging from the crown of her head and her tailbone—a telltale sign that she had been tampered with genetically. But from the familiar shape of her eyes and the structure of her cheekbones, he had no doubt that she was Ishvalan.

He felt himself tremble with rage. It had been a chance bit of intel wrung from the low-level State Alchemist he had assassinated last week, a lackey to Colonel Grand. The man had told him of an alchemical laboratory where a pair of children, including an Ishvalan child, were being experimented upon. Was it not enough that these Amestrian beasts had killed nearly all his people—but _this!_

In his arms the girl was recoiling from him; realizing that his anger was frightening her further, he forced himself to calm down. She was safe now, at least. The coincidence of the military raid had been inconvenient, but he had made it in and out in time. Now he would need to find some place to take her. He thought of the Ishvalan refugee camp outside of South City; but no, that was under tight supervision by the military, who would be looking for her. Her distinct appearance would make her stand out too much to be safe there.

His thoughts were distracted when the girl, finally swallowing her fear, began to kick and struggle in his arms. "Be still!" he ordered. "I will keep you safe—" But the girl was having none of it and kicked him hard in the stomach, catching him off guard. Her nimble form slipped from his grasp and she took off at a run, much faster than he expected for her size. "Wait!" he yelled after her as she disappeared around a corner, and he gave chase.

-o-o-o-o-

Back at the laboratory, Roy wiped sweat from his forehead, beside himself with frustration. Their search of the surrounding area had turned up no sign of the girls. Jenkins had been found alive but knocked out cold. Whoever had taken them had probably been long gone from the warehouse district before the team even started searching—which meant the girls could be anywhere by now.

As the team regrouped back inside the laboratory, Riza called the final status report into headquarters, her voice wooden. The radio crackled its reply: "Acknowledged. General Edison orders you to terminate the search and return to Central Command. An escort is being sent for the prisoner."

She let the hand holding the radio drop to her side. Her face was set in stone, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. "We were too late," she whispered, staring at the floor. "We lost them."

Roy uttered a curse, then turned and punched the wall next to him hard enough to dent the plaster. He breathed deeply for several moments, staring angrily into space. It had been their best hope, the only solid lead they'd had in three years. The two little girls were obviously nothing more than experiments to the evil men who held them; and now they were gone, somewhere out in the night where he couldn't find or protect them.

The other team members stood by uncertainly. After a long pause, Breda cleared his throat. "Orders, sir?" he asked gingerly. His voice snapped both officers out of their trances.

"Yes. Start packing up the files and evidence." Roy's voice was decisive, but held an undercurrent of sad resignation. He beckoned to Riza and began striding down the hall toward the room where Morishita was being held. "Lieutenant Hawkeye and I will continue interrogating the suspect."

-o-o-o-o-

By the time the scarred man caught up to the fleeing girl, they had crossed onto a commercial street lined with shops and restaurants, although most were closed at this hour and there were few people on the street. But as the girl darted through an alley behind one still lit-up restaurant, she turned a corner and collided with a man and woman walking toward their car, slipping and falling backward on the ground. Cursing silently, the scarred man ducked out of sight behind a dumpster before the couple caught sight of him. He would wait for her to start running again, then slip around the next building and follow.

But the couple was bending down to her. "Little girl, are you alright?" the woman gasped, tucking a strand of her short light-brown hair behind her ear as she leaned toward the girl. Either reassured by the woman's soothing tone or simply exhausted, the girl stayed where she was. No words came from her mouth, but she nodded gravely. "Honey, look, she's wearing next to nothing and she's soaking wet!" the woman exclaimed to her companion. "She must be freezing." The brown-haired man beside her was already taking off his coat and wrapping it around the girl.

"Do you have a name, sweetie?" he asked her. The girl looked at them blankly.

"Vincent—look at her head," the woman gasped anew. "Are those...feathers?" The adults' eyes met as a look of shock passed between them.

"Do you have a family?" the man asked the child carefully. "Somewhere you want to go back to?" But the girl only stared at the ground and shuddered. The man sat back on his heels and exhaled slowly. "Lavinia," he turned back to the woman, his eyes wide, "...do you remember that rumor you told me you heard at the hospital awhile back? About the military experiments?"

She nodded slowly. "From the drunk alchemist in the emergency room," she breathed. "He was babbling about animal-human DNA transfer. We all thought he was crazy, but afterwards the military sent people in to question everyone he'd talked to. They practically threatened us. We all pretended he hadn't said anything."

Vincent swallowed. "I'm getting the impression," he said quietly, "that your patient wasn't so crazy after all."

Behind the dumpster, the scarred man held his breath. He had no desire to kill civilians, but if these people intended to turn the girl in to the military, he would execute them on the spot.

"We can't let the military know about this little girl," the woman declared firmly. "She must have escaped from them. I've never trusted them to begin with, and now _this_..." The man was nodding in vigorous agreement. "She probably doesn't have anywhere to go," the woman continued. With sudden inspiration, she cocked an eyebrow at the man. "We've always wanted a child. I know the circumstances are strange, but...could we?"

The man paused thoughtfully, then pushed up his glasses, smiled and lifted the girl in his arms, propping her on his knee. "What do you think, sweetie? Would you like to come home with us?" Though still frightened, the girl nodded solemnly. "I think that settles it, Lavi. She looks like she needs us." The couple stood, the man still hugging the girl, and they resumed walking. The exhausted child let her eyes droop closed and laid her head on the man's shoulder.

From his hidden vantage point, the scarred man clenched his fists, breathing rapidly with anxiety. What should he do? This couple clearly intended to care for the girl and keep her hidden from the military. But they were Amestrians—how could he trust them to protect one of his people?! And yet what was the alternative: for him to kill these compassionate innocents? And then take the girl...where?

As they reached their car, the woman halted, putting her hand on the man's arm. "This means we can't tell anyone the real truth, OK? Even your brother. I know he's not like the rest of the military, but even he can't know. _No one_ must know." The man nodded soberly.

_If I'm going to intervene, I need to do it now, _thought the scarred man, his heart pounding. But as he watched the man gently lay the now-sleeping girl across the back seat of the car, and both adults tenderly place a hand on her head for a moment before closing her in, he stood rooted to his spot behind the dumpster. He could not kill these people. The child faced risks either way, and he could not bring himself to rip her away from people who were showing her such kindness. Even if they were Amestrians.

He continued watching as the car slowly pulled away from the parking lot and down the alley, its brake lights receding as it turned on the street. _Ishvala protect you, little girl,_ he prayed. _I hope this was the right choice. _

-o-o-o-o-

A mile away, Test Subject A stumbled into a park and collapsed onto her knees on the grass, breathing hard from the unfamiliar exertion of running. Silently she called out to her companion, _Can you hear me?_ But the answering voice in her head was nowhere to be heard. Her eyes filled with tears again. _I'm sorry,_ she said to the silence. _I shouldn't have run away and left you._

She shivered violently in the cold wind. Nearby, she saw an object being blown along the ground by the wind: a cardboard box, one big enough for her to fit in. She managed to stand and stagger the rest of the way to it. When she reached it she climbed inside, pulled it shut behind her and curled up on herself, still shivering but at least sheltered from the wind. In a few moments she was already beginning to drift into exhausted sleep.

But she gradually became aware of voices nearby, growing louder. "...telling you, I just saw a little girl in her underwear climb into this box." A man's voice. Holding her breath, she curled up tighter and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping he wouldn't see her, wouldn't take her back—but the box opened and cold air flooded in, and she heard a gasp.

She opened her eyes and stared at a light-haired man who was staring back at her. Unlike the others, this one wasn't shouting or wearing blue. "Hey, little girl! Are you OK?" the man asked gently.

"Rick, what's happening? Is she all right?" came a woman's voice from somewhere behind him.

"She's not answering. I'm not sure she can talk," he replied over his shoulder, the turned back to the girl. "Why don't you come on out of there, OK? I promise we won't hurt you." He reached in, his hands warm as he took hold of her arms and gently began to draw her out. Frightened, the girl began to fight him, kicking and struggling like a cornered animal. "Raven, some help here!" he called.

The woman was at his side in an instant, pulling the box away and then unexpectedly taking the girl into a hug, gripping her gently but firmly until she tired of struggling. "It's OK!" the woman smiled down at her, her long dark hair hanging down from under a hat. "Please let us help you. Little girls don't belong in cardboard boxes. And you must be so cold." Wrapped in a soft coat, the woman felt warm against the girl's skin.

The man had taken off his own jacket. "Here," he held it out to the girl, "Why don't we put this on you? We'll take you to our house, get you something to eat, and try to figure out where you belong. OK?" Though the girl was still frightened, these people didn't seem to want to hurt her. And she was so cold and hungry. She nodded slowly. The man wrapped his coat around her, then lifted her into his arms. As he and the woman began to walk, the girl felt her eyelids begin to droop again from exhaustion.

Some of her hair had fallen over her face, and as they walked along the darkened sidewalk, the woman brushed it away and smoothed it down on her head. Then she paused, her eyes wide with surprise. "Rick," the woman said quietly. "Look at her ears." The girl could no longer keep her eyes open, but felt the man crane his neck, then abruptly stop walking.

"Didn't you tell me," she heard him asked the woman soberly, "about a rumor you once heard at the hospital?"

"Yes, I did," the woman answered thoughtfully. "I think...maybe this little girl should stay with us." They began walking again, and as the girl drifted off to sleep, the last thing she felt was a hat being gently placed over her head.


	2. What is Not Lost or Forgotten

Chapter 2 - What is Not Lost or Forgotten

_Eleven Years, Eight Months Ago_  
_Central City_

"Kayla sweetie, this way!" The little girl formerly known as Test Subject B looked up from the butterfly she was following to find her parents waiting for her ahead on the sidewalk. "Don't you want to get home and try on your new things?" Lavinia asked patiently, gesturing with the large paper shopping bags she carried in her hands. Kayla pointed in silent objection at the slowly receding butterfly. She wanted to keep looking at it—it was _purple!_—but she had no way of telling them that, which frustrated her greatly. It seemed that no one except her friend from the lab, now lost to her, would ever be able to hear her thoughts.

"There will be lots of other butterflies," Vincent chuckled and held out his hand to her. "But let's go home and get some lunch. I'm hungry!" Grateful that they had at least understood her gesture, Kayla took a last longing look at the butterfly as it drifted away, then ran to catch up to her parents, taking her father's hand. As they continued along the downtown street, she caught sight of the three of them reflected in a storefront window and smiled.

"Oh look, it's Raven!" her mother observed, indicating a woman with long black hair headed in their direction at the far end of the block. Beside her walked a man with light brown hair. "She works at the hospital with me. That's her husband, Rick."

Still studying their reflection as they walked, Kayla reached up to straighten the straw hat that sat atop her bright auburn hair, making sure it concealed the feathers on her head as she'd been taught. The yellow dress she wore was also long enough to hide her feathered tail. Clothes! she marveled, as she had a hundred times in the last few months. And parents! And a bed, and going outside, and all the food she wanted! It was more than she had ever dreamed of. Her only regret was that her friend wasn't there with her. _I hope you're safe too,_ she called out silently. She still spoke to her friend often, even knowing that she wasn't there to hear it.

"I haven't seen Raven in months," her mother was saying. "She's been on a leave of absence for some kind of family situation, I don't know what exactly. Let's go say hello."

_Are you here?_ Kayla froze in place as this time, a reply rang out in her mind. _Is it really you?! _

She frantically scanned the street around her._ I'm here!_ she called in silent response. _Where are you?! _She could feel her friend's presence now, she must be nearby—

"Hey Lavi, wait up," she vaguely heard her father say. "Kayla honey—what is it? What's wrong?"

There! Down the street, from behind the couple heading toward them, emerged a little girl in a long blue dress, with short brown hair partly covered by a hat. With silent shouts of joy, each girl took off running for the other. "Brooke!" the woman called in alarm after the brown-haired girl, who paid no heed. The girls ran toward each other until they collided in a hug in the middle of the block, with both sets of parents rushing to join them.

"Lavinia!" gasped the black-haired woman to Kayla's mother. "I…" She trailed off as two sets of parents took in the astonishing sight of their daughters, both conspicuously wearing long dresses and hats, who not only appeared to know each other but were apparently having a joyfully animated conversation_ without making a sound._

A long silence elapsed. "Hello, Raven," Lavinia finally breathed. "I think we need to talk."

-o-o-o-o-

Awhile later at a nearby playground, the four parents shared a pair of benches while their daughters played on the swingset, still apparently chattering away in what the adults perceived as eerie silence.

"…and after that, we figured our first priority was to keep her secret hidden," Lavinia was saying. "We've been telling everyone that her real parents died in the fire at the Greystone Projects—you remember that one from last year, when about twenty people died?" Raven and Rick nodded.

"We're saying that Kayla suffered burns on her head, which is why she wears the hat, and that chemicals from the burning carpet scarred her windpipe, so she can't talk," Vincent added.

"We know something about how the military works from Vincent's brother, so we figured our story had better be airtight, just in case," Lavinia continued. "So I used my position at the hospital to plant records that back us up. A birth certificate for her, death certificates for the parents, medical records for her injuries…" Raven was staring at her in astonishment, and she reddened. "I'm not saying I'm proud of any of this! But she's our little girl, and she's been through so much already. If I have to break a few laws to protect her, I will."

"I wasn't judging you!" Raven interjected hastily. "I wish I'd thought of all that, in fact. We haven't really told anyone anything. We've been keeping to ourselves since it happened, trying to figure out how to explain where Brooke came from."

Rick nodded in agreement. "In the meantime, I've been working on something to help her speak. A sort of automail collar." Now it was Lavinia and Vincent's turn to stare in surprise. "I'm an inventor," he explained, putting a hand behind his head shyly. "It doesn't bring in much money, but it really comes in handy sometimes."

"Maybe we can help each other," Vincent suggested thoughtfully. "If Lavi helps you plant some records for Brooke, can you make an automail collar for Kayla too?"

"Of course!" Rick answered. His eyes turned to the two little girls on the swingset, still silently talking and giggling. "One way or another," he observed, "it looks like we're all in this together." The other adults nodded in determined agreement.

-o-o-o-o-

The brown-haired girl pointed her toes and pumped her arms to make her swing rise higher. _What do your parents call you?_ she asked her companion. _I'm Brooke now._

_I'm Kayla._ The other girl copied her friend's movements and made her own swing rise to match. They nodded in approval at one another's new names.

Brooke turned to stare at the ground for a few long moments, her mood turning serious. _I'm sorry I ran away,_ she said sadly. _I shouldn't have left you._

_You dummy, I told you to run away! _Kayla countered with a roll of her eyes. _And I'm fine—nothing bad happened to me._

_I know,_ sighed Brooke. When she looked up, her eyes were wide and earnest. _But I won't ever do that again, OK? If anything like that ever happens again, I'll be brave, and stay and protect you._

_OK,_ Kayla nodded. _And I'll try to be brave and protect you too! But let's just hope we never have to._ Brooke smiled in agreement.

That settled, Kayla shot a mischievous look at her companion, then began pumping her arms and legs to make her swing rise even higher. With a grin, Brooke accepted the challenge and did likewise, until both girls were soaring high into the air and laughing.

* * *

_Present Day_  
_Central City_

"This is so boring," complained Brooke, the automail collar around her neck giving her voice a metallic edge. The teenage girl lay sprawled out on her bed, on her stomach with her elbows propped up on the windowsill. Below her the late afternoon sun shone down on a quiet neighborhood street, while a pile of neglected textbooks lay strewn around her on the bed and floor. As she observed the scene, she absently ran her fingers through her short brown hair and stroked the wolf's ears on top of her head.

"Yeah," agreed Kayla in her own metallic voice. She sat cross-legged on the floor with a history textbook in her lap, her bright auburn hair hanging down nearly long enough to brush its pages. "But your mom says if we pass this last round of exams, we'll finally graduate. No more home schooling!" She held up the textbook. "So come on. Tell me about Xing."

"All right," Brooke sighed, abandoning the window and turning to stretch out on her back. "It's located on the other side of the Eastern Desert. It's been around for, um, about two thousand years, and they have a clan system ruled by an emperor. They practice a different kind of alchemy than we do, and claim that they had alchemy before anyone else, although nobody actually believes that."

"It sounds like the Xingese believe it," Kayla objected.

"I mean nobody in _Amestris _believes it," Brooke clarified with an impatient smirk. "Fine, smarty pants. Your turn." She hung her head and arms over the side of the bed and rooted around until she located her own history textbook, then picked it up and opened it to a random page. "Tell me about Ishval."

"OK. It's a region of Southeastern Amestris on the border of the Eastern Desert," Kayla laid aside her book and recited from memory. "They have their own ethnic group, but they fought a war of rebellion against Amestris awhile back, and nearly everybody died. That ended in 1899, the year we were born." She paused thoughtfully, then slid herself across the floor towards the bed until she was close enough to look at the textbook with her friend. "Hey," she asked, pointing to a photo of a group of Ishvalan people, "do you think I look Ishvalan?"

"What? Of course not. They all have red eyes and dark skin, and most of them have white hair."

"But look how their eyes are shaped, and their cheekbones..." She took the book and held it up next to her face so the other girl could compare the photo.

"Well, OK. Maybe," Brooke relented, squinting. "Does it matter?"

Kayla sighed. "I guess not," she conceded. "I mean, it makes me feel sadder about what happened to them in the war. But I suppose being Ishvalan is the least of my worries." She smoothed down the iridescent blue feathers on top of her head and frowned.

"What's wrong?" asked Brooke, frowning in response.

"Now that we're close to graduating, I've just been thinking," Kayla murmured. "...what are we going to do when we're older? We'll have to get jobs to support ourselves, and we're like this..." She gestured up at her feathers.

"Hmm." Brooke stared at the ceiling in thought. "Well, we could be nurses like our moms. They wear hats."

"Their uniform skirts are too short. Our tails would show."

"Fine. How about policewomen, then? They wear pants _and _hats. Then we could beat up criminals!" Brooke grinned wolfishly, miming a few punches into the air. Kayla shot her an exasperated look. "Anyway, why are you worried about this now?" Brooke continued more seriously. "We're only 15. We've got time."

"I know," Kayla continued frowning thoughtfully. "I just wish we didn't have to hide who we are all the time."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed somberly. "Even if we can't tell the world, it would be nice to at least have some friends." Kayla nodded.

A long silence passed between them. "All right," Kayla finally declared, her mood beginning to lift. "I suppose we won't get to be anything until we pass this test, so let's worry about that first." She closed the textbook she was holding and handed it back to Brooke with a smirk. "Your turn...tell me about ancient Xerxes."

-o-o-o-o-

"Hey there, Hawkeye!" Hughes called cheerfully a few hours later as he burst into the Central Command office where Roy and his team resided.

Riza turned from the cabinet she was facing, shifted a stack of files under one arm and saluted with the other. The room was otherwise empty of people. "Good evening, Lieutenant Colonel," she replied stiffly. Usually he got at least a polite smile out of her, but today she was all business, perhaps even a bit melancholy.

"You and Mustang working late together, huh?" he asked with a wink, trying to cheer her up.

Her bearing turned positively chilly. "The Colonel's in there," she remarked stonily, pointing to the door to the inner office where Roy kept his own desk. "Feel free to let yourself in." She turned her back on Hughes and sat down at her desk, making no further eye contact.

He sighed as he strode through the inner office door, closing it behind him and folding his arms over his chest. Roy, absorbed in reading a file, didn't bother looking up. "Hawkeye's still holding that grudge against you, huh?" Hughes asked. There was no reply. "Are you ever going to tell me what you did to make her so mad?"

"No." Roy's eyes were still fixed on his paperwork.

Hughes sighed theatrically. "Fine. Well, at least_ I_ had the sense not to let a good woman slip through my fingers," he opined, reaching into his lapel pocket. "Which reminds me, you haven't seen the latest pictures of Gracia and Elysia! We went to the park on Saturday—"

_"Hughes."_ Roy was looking up now, but instead of his usual lighthearted impatience, this time he was serious, frowning darkly. "Not today, OK?" He looked tired and grim, his eyes bloodshot.

"Sure," Hughes shrugged, replacing the photos in his pocket. "What's going on with you, Roy?" He pulled up a chair and took a seat across from his friend.

Roy sighed, then pushed a file across the desk toward Hughes. "This. You've heard of Shou Tucker, the State Alchemist?"

"Guy made a big splash a couple of years ago, right? Something to do with animal experimentation." Puzzled, Hughes picked up the file and began to leaf through it. Then his eyes went wide and he uttered a curse. "You're kidding me, right? His own _daughter?" _

Roy nodded soberly. "He turned her into a human chimera by combining her with the family dog," he echoed the file's contents sadly. "She was four years old. Tucker's in military custody, but the girl—or whatever she is now—is missing. We've got people combing the city." He slid a second file over to Hughes. "There are some similarities with this case from twelve years ago."

Still shaking his head in disbelief, Hughes began to flip through the second file. "The Morishita raid, huh? As I recall, he was suspected of trying to make human chimeras, but no proof was ever found." He hadn't been involved in that investigation himself, but word about it had gotten around. His heart sank further as he read the file. The missing test subjects were believed to have been even younger than Nina, about three years old—the same age as his Elysia. No wonder Roy hadn't wanted to look at her picture. "And you never found the girls? Or even figured out who they were?"

"No on both counts." Roy's mouth was set in a grim line, his hands balled into fists. "But there's a connection between the two cases—I'm certain of it."

Hughes blinked at the files before him, not wanting to believe that such monsters existed. But something else was nagging at him. "Wait a minute," he said thoughtfully. "I remember that the Morishita files went missing from Central Records a few years after the raid. There was a break-in, it was a big deal at the time. Where did you even get this?" He waved the folder in his hand.

Roy steepled his fingers, eyes glittering over a grim half-smile. "I had my team make a copy of everything we found at the lab before turning it over. We had suspicions that the military itself might have been behind the experiments, covertly. And now that a State Alchemist is involved in this new case, I'm even more convinced."

"Black ops, huh?" Hughes murmured. "A rogue element of the military?"

"If we're lucky," Roy grimaced. "Brigadier General Grand was awfully eager to take the Tucker chimera into custody for 'study.' The only reason he didn't is because Fullmetal caused a commotion and she got free." He met his friend's eyes earnestly. "There's a distinct possibility that _we're _the rogue element here, Hughes. We'll need to be very careful. But I could really use your help."

"Of course." Hughes began gathering up the files without hesitation. "Mind if I take these with me to start looking over? You look like you could use a break anyway. I can tell you're exhausted." Roy frowned, reluctant to let the files out of his sight, but after a few moments he rubbed his eyes and nodded wearily.

As they walked toward the door, Hughes tucked the files under one arm and clapped Roy on the shoulder. "Try to take your mind off it for a little while, OK?" he urged, back to his trademark cheerfulness. "Find yourself a nice woman and go out on a date. Or even better—" he grinned and inclined his head in the direction of the outer office, "—there's a beautiful woman right here in the next room! Go buy her some flowers, tell you're sorry for whatever it was you did, and take her out to dinner!"

Roy shook his head. He wore a smile, but it was a sad and halfhearted one. "Trust me, Hughes," he declared as he opened the door and ushered his friend out. "She'd tell me to go to hell."

-o-o-o-o-

Hughes took some time to look through the files at his desk before leaving the office for the evening. There was a lot of information to digest, but he was already thinking of leads he could follow, new investigation paths he could take. He pushed the files away and rubbed at his forehead; he would have nightmares about this for sure, especially with his daughter being the same age as the test subjects. Idly, he wondered if Elysia was too young to learn to use a gun for self-defense. She _was _exceptionally bright, he considered with a smirk.

With a glance up at the clock, he gathered up the files and set off for his car. There was one stop he needed to make before he headed home for the night.

His destination was a modest bungalow in a quiet, neatly manicured neighborhood. He parked the car and made his way up the paved stone walkway, approached the front door and knocked firmly. It was answered by a teenage girl with long, bright auburn hair under a blue knit beret, wearing an automail device on a collar around her neck.

Hughes held out his wallet, hanging open to display his military ID. "Military Investigations," he barked sternly. "I'm going to need to inspect these premises. I advise everyone here to cooperate fully."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Uncle Maes, you are _so _weird," she replied with a grin. Even through the collar's metallic speaker, he could hear the affection in her voice.

"Hey now," he protested with a grin of his own, pocketing his ID as she leaned in to give him a hug. "That's not what a man wants to hear from his favorite niece!" He returned her gesture with a bearhug squeeze.

"I'm your _only _niece, silly," Kayla countered with a laugh. "But even if you're my only uncle, you're definitely my favorite too." She invited him into the bungalow's living room with a wave.

The clink of pots and pans floated through the air from the kitchen. "Hi, Maes!" Lavinia's voice called unseen from around the corner. "Dinner's almost ready, but Gracia and Elysia are running a little late. Make yourself comfortable."

"Something to do with a potty-training accident," chimed in Brooke, appearing from the kitchen where she had been helping Lavinia. "We didn't ask for details."

Hughes sighed contently as he took a seat on the living room couch. "My darling Elysia is growing up _so _fast! You'll hardly recognize her. Here, let me show you the latest pictures!" He pulled a stack of photos from his lapel pocket, the ones Roy couldn't bring himself to look at earlier today. He began to flip through the pictures, enthusiastically narrating his account of their Saturday at the park as the girls looked on.

Though Hughes wore his usual cheerful grin, as he talked, a part of his mind kept returning to the thought of the little girls in the files, all three of whom were still out there somewhere. Turned into chimeras! The girls in the Morishita case would be just about Kayla and Brooke's age now, he mused, wherever and _whatever _they were now. He stole a glance at his niece and her friend, who were studying the pictures with a polite show of interest. Thank goodness nothing like that had ever happened to them, he thought with an inward shudder.


	3. Lost and Found

Chapter 3: Lost and Found

_Ten Years Ago  
Central City_

Hidden away in the choir loft of an abandoned church, the Ishvalan man with the X-shaped scar on his face and no name sat surrounded by the stacks of documents he had stolen from the military the night before.

He leafed through the papers in his hands and scowled. He had taken a considerable risk breaking into Central Command to steal these files, records from the laboratory where he had rescued the little Ishvalan girl two years before. He had hoped to learn something of her identity, but there was nothing in them about who she was, only what had been done to her, and even that was coded in alchemic gibberish. The language of blasphemy.

Still scowling, he tossed the last of the documents aside and instead turned to stare out of the loft's leaded glass window, below which lay a neighborhood park where the Ishvalan girl and her Amestrian companion came regularly to play. Today they were engaged in a game of tag, with shrieks of slightly mechanized laughter emerging from their automail collars as their adoptive mothers looked on. He recognized the brown-haired Amestrian girl as the second child he had glimpsed in the laboratory, the one who had fled from him. It seemed that some thread of fate too complex for anyone but Ishvala to follow had brought the girls back together again. Despite their traumatic beginnings, both girls seemed to have adjusted to life with their new families, and seemed happy and reasonably healthy.

Frowning, he reminded himself that it no longer mattered who the Ishvalan girl had once been. Like him, she had left her name, family, and identity behind in the ashes of their homeland. And there were so few Ishvalans left that all those who remained were kin now. But he knew he would continue to try to find out who she was anyway, just as he would continue to watch over her in her new life, a self-appointed guardian of sorts. Perhaps, he thought, it was an attempt to reassure himself that he was more than just a killer.

But vengeance remained his primary mission, and now he descended the staircase from the loft, heading out the door and into the morning sunshine, ignoring the frenetic running and happy shrieks of the girls as he strode past the park. He had much work to do. There were many State Alchemists who needed to be punished for their crimes against the Ishvalan people, and he wouldn't rest until they were all—

—his thoughts were interrupted by the squealing of tires and the sight of the brown-haired girl dashing obliviously into the street just as a speeding car rounded the corner. In one swift motion he scooped her up, swung her round and deposited her safely on the sidewalk as the vehicle roared by. He kept going, disappearing around the corner himself as the girl stood rooted in shock and her distressed mother ran for her, calling her name.

The long-forgotten ghost of a smile touched the edges of the man's lips as he continued walking. No matter his own intentions, it seemed that Ishvala had appointed him as guardian to _both_ little girls.

* * *

_Present Day  
Central City_

"Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel!" Lieutenant Ross saluted Hughes cheerfully, handing him a steaming cup of coffee as he entered the Investigations Department office. "I heard you got an early start today."

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and glanced at the clock; it was already mid-morning. "Yeah. They called a bunch of us in early for a briefing. Seems there's a serial killer who's targeting State Alchemists." Ross gasped in surprise, while Hughes took a swallow of the much-needed coffee. "They're calling him 'Scar' because he has a huge X-shaped scar on his face. They actually think he's been around for awhile—there've been a couple of unexplained alchemist deaths over the years—but he's started hitting higher-profile targets lately, and someone finally got a description. So it looks we've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Yes, sir!" Ross responded. "Oh, and Lieutenant Hawkeye's here to see you!" she added just as he stepped into his inner office and found the blonde lieutenant waiting.

"Good morning, sir. Colonel Mustang sent me to retrieve the files he lent you last night," she said briskly.

He sighed and smiled apologetically. "Unfortunately, Lieutenant, with all the commotion last night and being rushed in early this morning for the briefing...I'm afraid I accidentally left my briefcase behind."

Hawkeye frowned. "If it's at your house, sir, I would be happy to go pick it up." Judging by her expression, _happy_ was a keen exaggeration.

He felt himself wince as he continued, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, actually…it's not at my house. You see, I went to dinner at my brother's house last night, and I left it there."

There was a long, glaring silence. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," Riza said quietly in a voice that could have frozen ice, "may I impress upon you how _very important_ those case files are to our investigation? Not to mention confidential?"

"It'll be fine, Hawkeye," he hastened to assure her. "The briefcase is safe. It's locked, and even if it wasn't, my family would never touch the files. I'll go get it first thing after work." He swallowed, still smiling diplomatically.

"I will let Colonel Mustang know," she informed him tightly. She snapped her arm into a perfunctory salute, then spun on her heel and stomped out of his office. Hughes let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The lieutenant's temper was legendary; but surely he had only imagined seeing her fingers twitch toward the gun at her waist...?

-o-o-o-o-

An hour later in Roy's office, a familiar teenage boy with long blond hair in a braid and a bright red coat was standing before his desk, fists clenched. "How can you expect me to just sit around and look at some stupid research notes when Nina is still out there?!" Ed shouted. Roy, long accustomed to the boy's tirades, sat coolly behind the desk with his elbows propped on its surface.

"Fullmetal, there are two platoons searching the city already, including most of my own team," he explained patiently. "Any soldier in the military can do that job. But _you_ are the only one who can decipher Tucker's notes. Those notes might be the key to returning her to normal, and to finding other victims that might be out there."

"And what good will that do Nina if the wrong part of the military finds her first?!" the boy challenged, his eyes glaring directly into Roy's. "Do you really think Brigadier General Grand will just let us—"

"_Keep your voice down," _Roy hissed with a warning look. The last thing they needed was to be overheard plotting against a senior officer. "You have your orders, Fullmetal! Either follow them, or resign your post and leave that here." He pointed toward the State Alchemist's silver pocketwatch at Ed's waist. "…And lose any chance you might have had at helping Nina once we find her," he added tersely.

Scowling darkly, Ed reached for the watch, and for a moment Roy thought he really might pull it from his waist and throw it on the desk. But after a pause, the boy's gloved hand fell to his side. "Fine, Colonel Bastard," he snarled. "But your team had damned well better be the ones to find her!" With fists still clenched, the boy turned and stalked out of Roy's office. "Come on, Al," he growled to his brother, whose large armored form waited awkwardly in the outer office.

"Brother, don't you think you're being a little hard on the Colonel?" the younger brother's metallic voice faded out as they exited the office. Ed made sure to slam the door behind them for emphasis.

"He's right, you know," observed Hawkeye, who had been quietly filing papers in a corner of Roy's office. Her voice was sober. "If Grand's people find the girl first, they'll never let us near her."

"I'm aware of that, Lieutenant," he countered. "But the same is true of Tucker's research. It's just a matter of time before he confiscates that too, and the information it holds could be critical." He ran his fingers through his black hair, sighing. They were running out of time on both fronts, and even if they managed to beat Grand at every turn, there was still no guarantee that they would find a way to help the girl. _What we really need is a miracle,_ Roy thought despondently_._

-o-o-o-o-

Some hours later, Brooke yawned, letting the textbook in her lap fall closed as she stretched her arms over her head. "Oh hey, the sun's going down," she murmured, gesturing toward the window.

"Is it that late already?" Kayla looked up in surprise. Both girls were sprawled out on Brooke's bed, where they had been deep in their studying all afternoon. "Guess I'd better get home." She yawned likewise, then got up, gathered up her books, and slipped on her jacket.

"See you tomorrow," waved Brooke. "And don't forget this!" She tossed Kayla her hat, nearly forgotten atop one of the bedposts.

"Yikes, that would have been bad!" Kayla laughed as she fixed it over her feathers. With a wave, she headed down the stairs. "Good night, Mrs. Armstrong," she called to Raven in the kitchen on her way out.

"Good night, dear. Get a good night's sleep for your test tomorrow!" the older woman called back.

Kayla headed out into the dusk and began the long walk home. The weather was nice tonight, balmy with a cool breeze as she threaded her way through the quiet neighborhood streets. Her parents were out to dinner with friends and would be home late, so she took a detour and stopped by a convenience store to pick up dinner for herself. Ten minutes later she was on her way again with a ham sandwich and a bottle of sweet tea in a paper bag. It had grown dark in earnest now, so she quickened her pace.

But as she passed by the next alley, her attention was caught by a muffled whimpering sound. She stopped in her tracks—was that a child crying? Or a hurt animal? "Hello..." she called tentatively. "Is somebody there? Are you OK?" The whimpering ceased abruptly, and there were quick shuffling sounds and a muffled bang against a metal garbage can, as if someone were trying to hide. "Hey, um, I won't hurt you!" Kayla continued, not sure who or what she was even talking to as she squinted into the dark alley. "Why don't you come on out?"

After a long pause, there was more shuffling, and a large, lumbering shape emerged cautiously from within the alley. She saw now that it was a dog—an enormous, sad-looking one. And strange-looking too: it had tawny fur all over except for its head, which was covered in long brown hair like a lion's mane. Its eyes looked up at her with surprising intelligence, more like human eyes than a dog's. "See, it's all right, doggy," Kayla crooned, holding out her hand for it to sniff. "I'm friendly. Are you lost?" It made a low keening sound, and she tentatively reached out to stroke its head.

"Help," the dog said.

Kayla froze in place, her hand halfway to the dog's head. "Did you just...talk?" she gasped. That was impossible. Dogs didn't talk!

"Help," the dog repeated in a low, drawling voice. "I'm lost." Then, like any ordinary dog looking for attention, it shuffled closer and headbutted her outstretched hand—and Kayla felt a shock of energy rip through her, stinging painfully as she was engulfed in a blinding purple light.

She came back to her senses to find herself sitting in a heap on the sidewalk. Her body felt sluggish, as if she'd somehow been drained of energy. With effort she pulled her head upright to look at the dog—

She was being stared at by a completely ordinary dog, with tawny fur, no mane and utterly dog-like eyes, which panted happily and gave her a friendly little woof. Next to the dog sat a little girl of maybe four years old, with long brown hair and not a scrap of clothing.

"Help," said the little girl, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm lost."

Kayla slowly climbed to her feet, staring at the girl and dog. She was not normally one for swearing, but there were some occasions that just called for it. "What,"she demanded loudly of no one in particular, "the _HELL_ just happened?!"

-o-o-o-o-

His long workday finally over, Hughes headed out the eastern door of Central Command. _Don't forget the briefcase!_ he reminded himself. _Otherwise Hawkeye really might—uh oh._ Directly in front of him, parked by the curb next to the door, he spotted Roy's car, and Roy himself standing propped against it with his arms folded, glowering. Hawkeye stood rigidly next to him, her hands folded neatly behind her back, also glowering. Hughes mentally gulped as he tried to decide which of them looked scarier.

"Get in," Roy ordered gruffly as he opened the back door and pointed into the car. "We're taking you to your brother's." He slid into the backseat without another word, leaving Hughes to sigh and climb in beside him, with Hawkeye slamming the door shut behind them before taking the driver's seat.

"All right, I know I messed up," Hughes apologized. "I'm sorry I forgot the files. And now I won't even have as much time to help you with the Tucker case, since Command ordered us to drop everything and focus on this Scar person. But I've got some ideas, and I'll still do whatever I can to help. OK?"

There was no response, but neither of them was glaring or lecturing him, which Hughes took as a sign that he was forgiven. He took a deep breath and plunged on. "Anyway, it's great that you're coming to my brother's! You'll finally have a chance to meet the rest of my family. I have a beautiful sister-in-law, and an adorable, brilliant niece—she's definitely a Hughes girl even though she's adopted. Let me tell you all about them!" He continued on at length, enumerating his relatives' many virtues while discreetly ignoring the fact that Hawkeye was grimacing and Mustang was rubbing his forehead as if in pain.

-o-o-o-o-

The phone was ringing as Kayla staggered through the doorway of the darkened house with the little girl riding on her back, wrapped in her jacket. "OK, I'm putting you down now," she said as she maneuvered the girl down to the kitchen floor, narrowly avoiding a collision with the dog as it bounded past them. "I'm _coming,"_ Kayla muttered to the phone as it continued ringing insistently.

It was Brooke. "Did you feel something really weird?!" her friend exclaimed as soon as she answered. "Are you OK? Did something happen?"

"Yes, something really bizarre happened!" Kayla twirled her long auburn hair around her fingers anxiously. The little girl was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, looking dazed and hugging the dog, which was panting in happy obliviousness. "I'm OK. Everybody's OK. But you seriously need to come over right now!"

"Why, what happened?!"

"Just come over!"

"I'm on my way." Brooke hung up the phone without any further questions.

-o-o-o-o-

Lavinia and Vincent arrived home several minutes later. By then the girl was sitting at the kitchen table dressed in an oversized pair of Kayla's old pajamas and quietly devouring the ham sandwich. Kayla quickly and tersely filled in her parents on the strange events, then coaxed the girl into repeating the few pieces of information she had able to glean.

"What's your name?"

"Nina Tucker." The little girl's voice was small and anxious.

"Do you know what happened to you?"

"I was in Alexander." She pointed to the dog.

"Like, inside?" Kayla prompted. Nina nodded. "Do you know how you ended up…inside your dog?"

"My daddy put me there. With alchemy," the girl replied, her voice growing even smaller. Lavinia gasped and Vincent muttered a curse under his breath.

Kayla took a deep breath and continued. "Nina, who's your dad? What does he do?"

"He's a State Alchemist," she replied, drawing out the syllables carefully.

A dreadful silence descended over the family. After a few moments, Vincent broke the silence. "It's happening again," he muttered angrily. "And her own _father!"_

Lavinia was shaking her head. "This is bad," she murmured. "The military will be looking for her, Vince. We can't let them find Kayla!"

Vincent's mouth was pursed in a grim line. "But we can't turn this girl away, either." His eyes met Lavinia's. "We've done this before—we know what to do. We'll just have to keep her hidden until they stop looking."

"Really? She can stay here?" interjected Kayla hopefully. "And the dog too?"

Lavinia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, then nodded. "All right—I don't see that we have a choice. Let's keep this little girl safe. And the dog too." She smiled at Kayla. "You've hinted a few times that you wanted a little brother or sister, right? I think the military just gave you one."

Kayla grinned, then turned back toward the kitchen table. "What do you think, Nina? Do you and Alexander want to stay with us from now on?" Swallowing the last bite of her sandwich, the little girl slowly broke into a smile.

-o-o-o-o-

"...There's just one thing, though," Hughes reluctantly concluded his monologue as Hawkeye pulled up to his brother's house and parked the car. "My niece has some injuries she got when she was a child. She always wears a hat, and uses an automail device to help her speak. So just promise me you won't stare, OK? She's a little shy."

Mustang rolled his eyes and sighed. "Hughes, we see automail every day. And stranger things than that. We're not idiots." Hawkeye got out and circled around to open the back door of the car for them, closing it again after they exited. The trio of officers walked up the paved pathway to the front door.

-o-o-o-o-

The slam of the car door alerted the family inside the house. "Oh, _crap!"_ muttered Lavinia as she stared in alarm through the window. "I forgot that Maes was coming by for his briefcase—and he brought two other military people with him!"

"Kayla, get Nina and the dog upstairs and keep them quiet!" Vincent ordered frantically.

Kayla quickly scooped up Nina, whose eyes went wide with sudden fear. "It's OK. We're playing hide-and-seek. Come on, Alexander!" The older girl hustled them up the stairs and into her bedroom, closing the door just as the doorbell rang.

"Maes! Nice to see you again so soon," Vincent greeted his brother jovially. "And I see you brought some colleagues?"

"I've got your things right here!" Lavinia interjected as she appeared from the kitchen lugging the briefcase.

"Sorry to trouble you." Maes collected the briefcase with visible relief and a bit of embarrassment. "Ah, these are my friends, Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye." He indicated the black-haired male and blonde female officers, who were polite but stiff. "And where's my adorable niece? I've been bragging about her, and I wanted them to meet her!" Hughes continued cheerfully.

"I'm afraid she went to her friend's house—" Lavinia began, but was interrupted by the muffled sound of a dog barking from upstairs.

"Huh? When did you get a dog?" Hughes asked, confused. The barking abruptly grew louder as an upstairs door banged open. Above their heads there was the sound of frantic scrambling and running, then all at once the staircase in front of them burst forth with a bounding tawny dog, a small brown-haired girl in oversized pajamas tumbling after him, and behind them Kayla wearing an utterly mortified expression.

All three of them stopped short at the sight of the officers. "I'm sorry!" Kayla gasped, wheeling from the strangers to her terrified parents and back again. "Um, I can explain!"

But neither the strange officers nor her uncle were paying a bit of attention to Kayla. They were all staring in shock at the little girl and her dog.

"Is that…" began the blonde woman.

"Nina Tucker," finished the black-haired man, his voice filled with wonder. "But _how…?!"_

-o-o-o-o-

"OK, tell us one more time, Kayla," Hughes repeated gently. "You're sure you found Nina and Alexander just like this? Wandering around on their own?" His hand waved to indicate the little girl and dog, who were playing quietly in a corner of the living room.

Sitting on the sofa with all the adults standing around watching her, Kayla nodded, her hands unconsciously fidgeting with a throw pillow on her lap. "Yes, by the convenience store on 2nd Street. In an alley. I heard a little girl crying, and she was all alone except for her dog, so I brought her home." Kayla swallowed before continuing. "She said that her dad did something to hurt her, so I thought I should hide her in case he was looking for her." Her eyes flickered earnestly toward her parents. "I didn't even tell my Mom and Dad." Neither Lavinia nor Vincent contradicted her, their faces filled with veiled gratitude; being caught lying to the military could have gotten the adults arrested.

"And there was nothing strange about Nina and Alexander, other than the fact that they were alone?" Hughes prompted.

"I don't think so," Kayla shrugged. She hated the fact that she was lying to her uncle, but she didn't dare tell the whole truth since she suspected it had something to do with her own secret history as a military test subject.

But the blonde lieutenant was eyeing her keenly, frowning. "Kayla," she said calmly. "I still don't think you're telling us everything you saw tonight. You aren't in any trouble, we just need to know _exactly_ what happened." Her eyes bored into Kayla's, and the teenage girl swallowed nervously. "So why don't you be honest, and tell us the rest."

Kayla felt like she was under a microscope. It was too much; she couldn't take that woman's gaze. "All right!" she confessed, her voice cracking as she hid her face. "There _is _more. I was just afraid to tell you." From the corner of her eye she saw Vincent and Lavinia hold their breath. "When I found Nina…" Kayla continued in a small voice, "...she was naked." She looked back up at her uncle pleadingly. "I think her dad was one of those sickos like you read about in the newspaper. Please, Uncle Maes, _please_ promise me you won't take her back to him!"

Hughes let out his breath and stepped back. "Oh, geez," he mumbled. His eyes met those of the other two soldiers, who both grimaced; Kayla knew then that her admission had convinced them. After a moment Hughes turned back to Kayla, knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. "All right, listen kiddo. Nina's father was a bad man. Not the way you're thinking, but very bad. He's in jail, and he will _never_ be allowed to go near her again. OK?" Kayla nodded, sighing with relief. Hughes stood back up. "All right, give us a few minutes to talk this over."

As the three soldiers withdrew to the hallway for a murmured conversation, Lavinia went to Nina and put her arms around the small girl, while Vincent sat down and gave Kayla a quick hug. "You did good," he whispered.

Snatches of conversation were drifting in from the hallway. "This one's up to you, Roy," Hughes said to the black-haired colonel. "What do we do?"

The man was gazing into the living room at Nina and Alexander. "The military is looking for a chimera," he replied. "But all I see is a girl and a dog." Hughes and the lieutenant nodded in agreement, and all three returned to the living room.

"Vincent, Lavinia...are you willing to take responsibility for this girl?" Hughes asked gently. "It would be classified, so you wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Even other people in the military."

"Yes," Lavinia answered without hesitation.

"Of course, Maes," Vincent agreed. "She'll be safe here with us."

For the first time, the serious expressions on all three officers relaxed and gave way to smiles. "Then it's settled," the black-haired man declared. "I can't think of anyone's family I'd trust more." He turned to Hughes. "You'll help keep an eye on things here?"

"Definitely," Hughes responded with a grin. "I'll check in tomorrow. But for now, I guess we should get out of your way," he added to the parents. "And _thank you, _sincerely. From all of us." He made sure to retrieve his briefcase as the soldiers said their goodbyes and departed, leaving the family alone and relieved.

-o-o-o-o-

"Why does it matter how it happened, Roy?" Hughes was insisting as they got back into the car. "The little girl is OK. End of story."

"It's not even close to the end of the story, Hughes," Roy sighed. "We need to figure out _why_ she's OK. If there are other chimeras out there, we need to know how to save them."

As the men continued to debate in the back seat, Hawkeye started up the car and began to pull away, then abruptly took her foot off the accelerator. Her attention had been caught by a figure walking briskly up to the front door of the house—another adolescent girl, this one with short brown hair. She wore a hat like Kayla, and the reflection from the porchlight glinted off an automail collar around her neck. "Who's that girl?" Hawkeye demanded of Hughes. "Why does she have the same injuries as Kayla?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's Brooke, Kayla's best friend. They were both injured in a fire when they were younger. They were in the same room when it happened." Hughes returned his attention to Roy. "What are you going to tell the Elric boys? They'll want to see Nina."

"Let me think about that one. We need to keep this quiet, and they aren't exactly discreet," Roy replied.

Ignoring the men's conversation, Hawkeye squinted curiously at the girl until she disappeared inside the house. Only then did she reluctantly put the car into gear and pull away.


	4. New Beginnings

Chapter 4: New Beginnings  


_Twelve Years Ago_  
_Central City Warehouse District_  
_Raid on Morishita's Laboratory_

Dr. Morishita's face made the abrupt acquaintance of the surface of a laboratory worktable, and was held firmly in place by a gloved hand gripping the back of his neck and the barrel of a revolver pressed against his forehead.

"I strongly suggest you start talking, Doctor," growled Roy, the owner of the hand. "Tell us where the girls are!"

"Like I told the other soldier, they were in the basement!" whined the alchemist. The right half of his face was scrunched against the lab table, propping his thick glasses askew. "I don't know where they are now." He sounded generally distressed at the loss of his test subjects.

"We know someone took them. Who are you working with? Where would they have gone?!" demanded Riza, the owner of the gun. She cocked it for emphasis, causing Morishita to flinch at the sound.

"There's no one here but me!" he insisted. "They may have gotten out on their own. They're normally secured, but then you people barged in here and ruined everything—" He gulped as the pressure from the hand on his neck and the gun to his head became more forceful.

"'Secured!'" spat Riza. Her voice held icy menace. "What exactly did you do to those children, _Doctor?"_

"I didn't harm them," he countered stubbornly. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I made them stronger, smarter. Gave them all sorts of wonderful abilities." Despite his predicament, the man was grinning with perverse pride. "If you let me up, I'll show you."

Above his head, Roy and Riza's eyes met. Morishita was clearly insane, and neither wanted to trust him, but they needed any information he could give them. "I promise to behave," the man added plaintively. "I can't do anything like this, after all." He gestured with his hands, bound at the wrist with handcuffs inscribed with transmutation circles that would negate any alchemy he might try to perform.

Riza nodded in agreement to Roy, and he let the man up slowly, keeping one hand poised to snap flame at him if he tried anything, while she kept her gun trained at his head. Morishita straightened his white lab coat and adjusted his glasses, then took a few steps across the room and pressed one bound hand against a recess in the wall. With a click, a section of the wall swung open, revealing a hidden room full of cages containing animals of all shapes and sizes.

"You see," purred the alchemist. "All of nature—and more—lies under the command of alchemy. These creatures have strength and senses far beyond those of mere humans. From these animals came the abilities I gave my test subjects." He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he flashed a leering grin. "Don't you see? I gave them _wonderful _gifts!"

* * *

_Present Day_  
_Central City Residential District_

"Alexander, fetch!" Nina called, throwing a red rubber ball to her dog. Alexander, somewhat hazy on the concept of fetching, picked up the ball in his mouth and joyfully bolted in the opposite direction from the four-year-old girl, who chased after him across the backyard, giggling.

"He has her well-trained," Kayla observed from her seat on the back step, taking a sip from her mug of tea.

"So cute…" murmured Brooke over her own mug, sitting next to Kayla on the step. "I wish _I_ had an adorable little sister. She even came with her own dog!"

"That's not a dog, that is a bulldozer with four legs," Kayla griped good-naturedly. "The only reason he hasn't tried to run you over is because he's afraid of you, Miss Big Bad Wolf," she added with a mischievous smirk.

"What? That can't be right! Hey Alexander, come here!" Brooke protested, motioning for the dog to approach. Alexander froze and stared at her with eyes wide in fear, then gave a submissive "yip" and retreated to the other side of the yard. "Oh, how embarrassing," she muttered.

"At least your animal side is something cool. Nobody's intimidated by birds," Kayla sighed. She paused, noticing that Nina had stopped chasing Alexander and was standing in front of the older girls, staring curiously. "What is it, Nina?"

She broke into a shy smile. "Um, why do you both have…" She trailed off and pointed toward her neck.

"Our automail collars?" asked Brooke. The young girl nodded. "They help us make sounds when we talk. Otherwise no one would be able to hear us."

"Watch this," added Kayla, unfastening her collar. She continued speaking, her lips moving normally but no sound coming out: _Now you can't hear me, see?_

Nina cocked her head at Kayla, her expression confused. "I can still hear you," she countered.

Kayla and Brooke's eyes met in surprise. "Wait a minute…" said Brooke. _If we talk like this, you can hear us? _she finished the sentence silently, which normally only Kayla would be able to hear. Nina nodded slowly, pointing at her head.

The older girls broke into delighted grins. "She's just like us! This proves that we're connected somehow!" Kayla declared excitedly. "Hey Nina, can you try to talk to us that way? Think of something you want us to hear, but don't say it out loud. OK?"

The little girl nodded again. Several moments of unbroken silence elapsed. "Keep trying," encouraged Brooke. "It probably takes practice."

Nina's small brow furled in concentration as another minute went by. Finally, both older girls heard a tiny voice in their heads: _Will you play with me?_

"Yay!" Kayla and Brooke cheered together and gave the little girl hugs. _I mean, yay!_ Brooke added silently with a laugh.

_We don't have time to play right now because we have a test today, but we'll play later, OK?_ added Kayla. _And oh! It has to be a secret that we can talk this way. Mom and Dad can know, but nobody else, got it?_

Nina nodded with a grin. _OK! I'll play with Alexander until later. _She bounded off to rejoin her dog in the middle of the yard, retrieved the rubber ball, and threw it to him. _Fetch, Alexander!_

"I don't think he can hear you like that," Brooke laughed.

But the four-year-old was off in her own world, chattering nonstop as she ran around the yard after her dog. _This is fun! I like to play! Alexander is so cute! Let's all play later! _She segued into a nonsensical nursery rhyme, the silent words ringing loudly inside their heads.

As the song continued on and on, Kayla rubbed her forehead. "OK, I'm starting to think this may not have been the greatest idea," she observed to Brooke, who nodded regretfully.

-o-o-o-o-

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the four parents were having a meeting over coffee.

"I did everything I could to find an exemption, but I don't see any way around it," sighed Raven. "It applies to all home-schooled children. They won't be able to graduate unless they complete a 40-hour internship with the military—period."

"Surely there's a religious exception or something," Vincent countered. "Can we say we're pacifists?" But Raven was shaking her head.

"Even if we could, that would put us on the military's radar," Lavinia pointed out. "We could find ourselves under suspicion for anti-government activities, which would be even worse."

Raven ran her fingers through her long black hair. "The girls are going to have to do this, one way or another. Our best bet is to try to find them an assignment that keeps them out of Central Command and exposes them to as few soldiers as possible. That will minimize the chance of someone figuring out who they are."

"Well, both of our families have relatives in the military," Vincent acknowledged. "We can try to work something out with Maes, but I'm not sure what to tell him. Rick, is there a chance your brother could help us instead?"

Rick frowned. "That might not be a good idea. Command has never really trusted him since Ishval, and they keep him on a tight leash. If he tries to intervene on the girls' behalf it might attract more attention, not less."

Lavinia scowled. "It's disgraceful. To be treated like that just because he refused to kill civilians!" The other adults nodded gravely.

A long, discouraged silence elapsed. "I guess it's down to Maes, then," Vincent sighed. "We'll just have to talk him into it."

-o-o-o-o-

Back at Central Command, a folder full of papers landed on Roy's desk with a thump. Above the desk stood a scowling Edward, arms folded over his chest. "There's our translation of Tucker's research notes, Bastard. Can we go look for Nina now?" Next to Ed stood the armored form of his younger brother Al, his smile embarrassed yet hopeful.

"Not so fast," Roy replied, picking up the folder and sighing as its haphazardly stacked papers spilled out. "First give me a verbal report of what you found."

Ed rolled his eyes, his scowl deepening. _"F__ine._ He talks about three different kinds of alchemy: There's the regular kind like we use in Amestris. There's alkahestry, which is what they use in Xing, mostly for healing the human body. Then there's something called azothestry, which is all about capturing the power of animals. It's a lost art from ancient Xerxes that Tucker was trying to resurrect, and that's what most of his notes are about."

"OK," Roy nodded. "Go on."

Ed sighed, beginning to relax as he continued talking; despite his impatience he had found the research genuinely interesting. "Well, he mentions the Philosopher's Stone in passing—he calls it the pinnacle of regular alchemy, like you'd expect. But he spends most of his time talking about 'Animal Stones,' which are the pinnacle of azothestry. He thinks they could be even _more_ powerful than the Philosopher's Stone if they could be harnessed."

Al chimed in, "We're not sure whether this next part is meant to be taken literally, or if it's some kind of symbolic code. He says that the Animal Stones aren't actual stones, but living animals that appear in our world once every 100 years. There are four of them: a dragon, a fenris wolf, a blue phoenix and a gold phoenix. He also calls them Guardian Animals."

Roy considered the boys' words. "And Tucker was working on capturing the power of these animals?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, that's what it sounds like. There's a lot of information about how to use this azothestry stuff to create chimeras." His face collapsed in a frown. "But nothing about how to return one to being a normal human."

"That doesn't surprise me." Roy stared down at the papers in his hands, his expression dark. "I was hoping there would be something new here. But everything you've told me is almost identical to a case my team worked on twelve years ago."

"Wait a minute!" Ed protested. "Are you telling me that you knew all this stuff already? We wasted all that time for nothing when we should have been out looking for Nina?!" The teenager was gritting his teeth, his hands balled into fists.

Roy was holding up his hand. "Calm down, Fullmetal. You haven't heard _my_ report yet." He propped his elbows on the desk and sat back, breaking into a smile. "Nina's been found, and she's fine. We're not sure how, but she's no longer a chimera."

"WHAT?!" both brothers exclaimed, their words tumbling over one another in their excitement. "Where is she?!" "Who found her?" "Does Grand know?" "How could that happen?!" "You're _sure_ she's fine?" "When can we see her?!"

"Stop, both of you! One at a time. And keep your voices down." The boys quieted, staring at Roy expectantly. "Nina and her dog were found by a civilian—they were already separated at that point, apparently," Roy continued. "The civilian's family has agreed to take care of her and keep her hidden. Grand and the rest of the military don't know, and we're going to keep it that way. That means no visitors, not even you two—I _mean_ it, Fullmetal," he cut off the boy's protests before they began again. "For her protection and the family's. That's an order. Got it?"

"We understand, Colonel," Al interjected. "Don't we, Brother?" he elbowed Ed gently in the ribs and gave him a meaningful look.

Ed was clearly livid. "I guess you're not giving us a choice," he scowled at Roy, "_and_ you're telling us we have to take your word that she's OK." Then he slammed his hands down on the desk as he leaned forward, staring angrily. "Wait a minute—why the hell didn't you tell us the news about Nina first?!"

"Because if I had, I never would have gotten your report," Roy answered, wearing the placid smirk of an untroubled conscience. Behind the boys, Riza appeared at his office door. "What is it, Lieutenant?" he inquired, cutting off Ed's next rant.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is here to see you," she answered crisply.

"Excellent. You boys are dismissed." Roy began to stack the papers neatly and replace them in their folder, paying Ed and Al no further attention.

"Wait a minute! We're not done here—" Ed protested, not moving.

"Come _on,_ Brother," Al pulled at Ed's arm to get him to leave, flashing him another meaningful look. Only then did Ed reluctantly allow himself to be ushered out, still scowling at Roy.

"Hey there, boys!" Hughes greeted Ed and Al cheerfully as they passed one another in the outer office. Al returned the greeting while Ed silently fumed behind crossed arms, watching as Hughes disappeared into Roy's office with Riza following and closing the door behind them.

-o-o-o-o-

"You see Brother, this is much easier than trying to argue with the Colonel," Al whispered to Ed a few minutes later. Ed grinned in approval. Both boys had their heads cocked toward a hastily-transmuted megaphone attached to a pipe in the floor of the supply closet they occupied, which led into the ceiling of Roy's office one floor below. The adults' voices were slightly muffled, but the brothers were able to hear them clearly enough.

"—told me she's adjusting just fine," Hughes was saying. "But they could use a few things, like we talked about."

"I've already picked up some clothes and shoes that should fit her," Hawkeye replied. "And a few other items that might be useful. A hairbrush, some books, a couple of dolls…is something funny, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?"

"I just never pictured you as the maternal type, Hawkeye. Your instincts are being wasted in the military! You really ought to find yourself a husband, start a family—"

"_Hughes,"_ Roy cut him off abruptly. "That's enough. The Lieutenant will give you the clothes and other items to take with you. If there's nothing else…?"

"Fine, fine," Hughes conceded cheerfully. "I'll stop by my brother's tonight and give you a report on Nina in the morning." There was the sound of a door opening. "Oh Lieutenant, I don't suppose you happened to pick up any dog food…" The voices dwindled out of the boys' hearing range.

Ed clapped his hands, and with a glow of blue light, the megaphone melted into the floor. "Hughes is going to see Nina tonight, Al!" he declared excitedly. "And we're going with him." Al nodded determinedly.

-o-o-o-o-

The sun was setting as Hughes pulled his car away from Central Command and onto the road. He hummed absently to himself as he drove, a box full of children's clothes and toys on the passenger seat beside him. A smile crossed his lips as he pictured the usually stern and humorless Hawkeye shopping for little girls' dresses. She definitely had a soft side, no matter what Roy thought. If his friend had any sense he would definitely—

His thoughts were interrupted as he drove over a bump in the road and the bottom of the car scraped noisily against it. It had been driving oddly ever since he'd left work, feeling strangely weighted down. Maybe the suspension needed to be fixed; frowning, he made a mental note to get it checked over the weekend as he pulled up to his brother's house and parked the car.

He was halfway up the front walkway when, from behind him, he heard the noisy slam of his car's trunk opening followed by a clanking noise that sounded suspiciously like Alphonse Elric's armor. "Oh no," he murmured as he froze in place. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is." Slowly, he turned around to face the scene.

Sure enough, before him stood the Elric brothers, Al standing with his hands clasped apologetically while Ed nonchalantly brushed off the sleeves of his red coat. "Hey, Hughes!" Ed barked, folding his arms over his chest. "We're here to see Nina, and we're _not_ taking no for an answer!"

Hughes' shoulders slumped in anticipation of the hell Roy was going to give him for this tomorrow, and he let out a long sigh. "All right, I guess what's done is done," he grumbled. He turned and resumed walking up the walkway, motioning for the boys to follow. "You two might as well come on in. I'll introduce you to my brother's family."

-o-o-o-o-

"BIG BROTHERS!" Nina squealed as soon she saw Ed and Al, and took off in a run toward them. Undecided who to hug first, she attempted to throw her small arms around both of them at once, an effort made even more comically impossible due to Al's size. Her dilemma was solved when Alexander bounded joyfully after them and plowed Ed to the ground, at which point Al scooped the little girl up and planted her on his shoulders as she giggled loudly.

By now Ed had managed to sit up and was scratching the dog's head affectionately. "You stupid mutt, I'm even glad to see _you_ right now," the boy chuckled, fighting back tears of relief and happiness. He'd done plenty of crying over what had happened to Nina, but he didn't want to lose his composure in front of this houseful of strangers. Who were all, he realized suddenly, staring in bewilderment at the bizarre spectacle the brothers were creating. Ed felt his face redden as he quickly pushed himself up from the floor.

"I've got to hand it to you boys, you know how to make an entrance," Hughes observed drily. He quickly introduced them to the house's occupants: Hughes' brother Vincent, whom Ed noted bore an uncanny resemblance to Hughes himself; Vincent's wife Lavinia; their teenage daughter Kayla; and Kayla's friend Brooke.

The two older girls were studying the boys with shy curiosity. "Nina told us about her 'big brothers,'" volunteered Kayla, a slim girl with bright auburn hair wearing a sweater and a long flowered skirt. Her voice had a subtle metallic edge; Ed noted that both she and Brooke wore automail speaking devices of some sort. "But she didn't seem to know who you two were exactly, and based on her description…" Kayla trailed off as her eyes flickered toward Al's armored bulk, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"We thought you were imaginary friends," Brooke concluded with a smirk. She was a few inches taller than Kayla, with broader shoulders and short brown hair, wearing jeans and an untucked button-down shirt, and seemed less shy than her friend.

Al laughed as Ed broke into a smile. "Well I guess if you'd never met us, we would sound kind of unbelievable," Al admitted. An awkward silence followed; to dispel it, he began to playfully teeter Nina back and forth on his shoulders, eliciting a renewed round of giggles.

Ed turned to Vincent and Lavinia. "We can't thank you enough for protecting Nina. After what her father did to her—" Hughes interrupted him with a cough and a warning look; evidently he didn't want to discuss the whole story. "Uh, anyway, we're just so relieved that she's safe," Ed finished.

"It's our pleasure, Edward," Lavinia answered with a smile. "Nina is part of our family now. Why don't you boys make yourselves comfortable and visit with her for awhile? I've got some lemonade in the fridge." She began to withdraw to the kitchen.

"Um, thank you Mrs. Hughes, but please don't pour one for me," Al called politely. Lavinia's gaze swept curiously over Al's armored form, but she nodded and asked no questions.

Vincent clapped his hand on Hughes' shoulder. "Maes, do you mind following us into the kitchen? There's something we need to ask you."

-o-o-o-o-

At the kitchen table some minutes later, Hughes took a generous swallow of lemonade before setting down his glass. "It's not exactly a _problem_, but I wish you'd tell me why. An internship at Central Command is perfectly safe, even for girls their age."

Vincent and Lavinia smiled tactfully over their own glasses. "Trust me, Maes, you'll feel differently when Elysia turns fifteen. You won't want to let her out of your sight around that many athletic young men either," Vincent countered.

Seeing Hughes frown, Lavinia added hastily, "We're not insinuating that the military would let its soldiers behave inappropriately! I'm sure they're all perfect gentlemen, at least when they're on duty. But these girls have been home-schooled their whole lives, and they're sheltered. We just don't think they're ready to be thrown into that environment right away." Their excuses sounded lame and overprotective, but they couldn't take the risk of telling Vincent's brother the truth. It wasn't that they didn't trust him—especially after watching him act without hesitation to protect Nina from the rest of military—but the more people who knew their secrets, the more dangerous it would become for everyone involved.

Hughes pushed up his glasses, still frowning. "You can't shelter those girls forever, you know. They're going to have to learn to fend for themselves someday."

"Someday," Vincent conceded. "But they just need a little more time." He hesitated, then smiled again and played their trump card. "Besides…you owe us a favor for Nina."

Hughes rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. "You really know how to fight dirty, don't you? OK, fine. I'll see what I can do." He drained the last of his lemonade, then stood up. "Just promise me you won't try to keep the girls locked away forever, OK? Having automail doesn't make them helpless. Hell, look at the Elric brothers." He gestured back toward the living room, where playful shouts from the boys were alternating with Nina's giggles. "You wouldn't know it to look at them, but those two are more mature and responsible than half the soldiers in my division." He paused, his gaze wandering thoughtfully in the brothers' direction. "Actually, that gives me an idea." He turned and strode back into the living room. Curious, the other adults followed.

Nina was perched on Ed's shoulders as he trotted around the living room in leisurely pursuit of Al, who was lumbering in a circle making roaring noises. "We're catching up to the dragon, Nina! Get ready to slay him!" Ed grinned while Nina shrieked with laughter. Kayla and Brooke were perched on the staircase, chuckling at the boys' antics.

Hughes waited patiently for Nina to finish "slaying" Al before interrupting. "Boys," he began, clapping them on the shoulders, "I think you'll both agree that you owe me a big favor for bringing you here."

Al nodded. "Of course we do, Lieutenant Colonel!"

"…OK," Ed added more cautiously, squinting suspiciously at Hughes.

"And I know how you're going to pay it back." Hughes inclined his head toward Kayla and Brooke and grinned. "For the next week, these young ladies are going to be your interns. Take them with you in the field—somewhere outside of Central Command—and find them something to do." On the staircase, the girls' eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, what?" Ed objected. "We can't do something like that!"

"Sure you can. I'll clear it with your commanding officer."

"But we don't have time!" the blond boy protested. "We're usually traveling, and we do a lot of stuff that's dangerous—"

"You also do a lot of boring library research and inspections right here in Central City. Make the time. Unless," Hughes raised his eyebrows and smiled diabolically, "you'd like me to tell Colonel Mustang how you violated his orders and came here? I'm sure he'll think of _lots_ of interesting jobs for you to do when he hears about that."

"Do we get a say in this?" Brooke protested.

"No," Lavinia and Vincent answered in unison.

"This is ridiculous!" Ed fumed.

"Brother, let's not be rude," interjected Al quietly.

Ed turned to the girls, who were both glaring at him. "Nothing personal," he added while Al smiled in embarrassment. "It's just, we have things to do."

Over Hughes' shoulder, Vincent coughed. "Mature and responsible, you say?" he murmured as Hughes made a face.

But then a smile stole over his features. "What do you think, Nina?" Hughes asked innocently as he turned to the four-year-old girl. "Don't you think your big brothers and big sisters should all get along?"

"Oh, that's just blackmail," Kayla muttered under her breath. Beside her, Brooke rolled her eyes.

"Yay! Let's all play together!" Nina responded happily, hopping up and down a little in her enthusiasm as she looked back and forth appealingly between the two pairs of teenagers. Over her head, Ed and Al's eyes met, the older brother fuming while the younger one shrugged uncertainly.

"Fine!" Ed threw up his hands and sighed. "I guess if we have to do this, we have to do this."

"Great! Then it's all set," Hughes gushed as he clapped the boys on the shoulders once more and grinned, cheerfully ignoring the fact that besides himself and Nina, no one in the room looked even remotely happy.


	5. Secrets and Revelations

Chapter 5: Secrets and Revelations  


_Recovered Twelve Years Ago  
Coded Alchemy Research Notes of Dr. Morishita (Untranslated)  
_

Consider first the latitude of this precious stone,  
Where the dragon and the wolf be made into one;  
Espoused with the spirit of life to live in rest,  
Earth and air equally proportioned, that is best.

Blue and gold, the phoenix's feathers in bright colors,  
Turned into perfect, true, ardent waters;  
Fire which neither gold nor silver can abide,  
You shall calcine bodies, perfect, dissolve, divide.

Then shall the Moon be full appearing by daylight,  
Then is the uprising of the Sun appearing bright;  
There is the purgatory passed, and her course at an end,  
From thence by many colors into the heavens ascend.

Hide the altitude of bodies, and show out their profundity,  
Which being comprehended all the secrets of Azothestry;  
When clouds of darkness blow over, and all appears fair,  
The whitest earth, the hottest fire, the clearest water, the purest air.

Espoused with the spirit, into two glasses let these be done,  
And in one glass, and with one rule, turn four natures into one.*

* * *

"Kayla honey, did you get some breakfast?" Lavinia's voice called from the kitchen.

"Gmmf mmf!" Kayla called back to her mother, one hand on the doorknob of the back door as the other balanced a mug of tea. Pausing long enough to remove the triangle of toast dangling from her mouth, she swallowed the bite she'd taken and tried again: "I mean, got it!" She replaced the toast and continued through the door, out into the backyard where Brooke and Nina were engaged in an energetic round of horseback-ride.

The little girl was squealing with giggles as she urged her steed to gallop faster. "Good morning, Big Sis!" she called playfully.

"Glad you could finally join us," Brooke added teasingly. "It figures—the one day we actually have to be on time for something is the day you oversleep."

Swallowing the last bite of toast, Kayla made a face at her friend, then sank down onto the back step and took a drink from her mug. "Guess I'm just used to the home-school lifestyle," she chuckled as she stretched lazily. "Anyway, we've got what, fifteen minutes before those guys are supposed to get here? Plenty of time!" She glanced down at herself and self-consciously smoothed the wrinkles in her sweater and skirt. Luckily they weren't trying to impress anyone.

"Yay, Big Brothers are coming!" Nina sang. She was bouncing up and down restlessly on Brooke's back. "Come on, horsey! Let's gallop some more!" she urged.

"I think this horsey's all galloped out for now," Brooke laughed. "Let's put you down so I can catch my breath before our new 'friends' get here." She began to lower the little girl to the ground; but Nina, wound up with excitement and in no mood to stop playing, continued to bounce and fidget impatiently.

"Brooke, your ha—" Kayla warned just as Nina's waving arms collided with Brooke's beret and sent it flying. There was silence as all three girls held their breath, Nina staring up in astonishment at the exposed gray wolf's ears on Brooke's head.

"Oh no," murmured Brooke as the older girls' eyes met in dismay.

"Big Sis..." Nina gasped, her eyes frozen as wide as saucers. "You have…" They had managed to keep their secret from the little girl thus far, not wanting to frighten her. After everything she'd been through, what she needed was a normal family life, not a reminder of more animal-human experiments—

"_CAT EARS!"_ Nina whooped, grinning and hopping up and down with delight, apparently not frightened in the least. "They're so cute! Can I pet them? Pleeeeease?" With relief, Kayla burst out laughing as Brooke collapsed in a sigh.

"They're _wolf_ ears, Nina," she chuckled. "But yes, you can pet them." She bent her head down for the four-year-old to reach. "This is another one of our secrets, OK?" She switched to speaking silently: _Like how we can talk like this. No one except our parents can know. Got it?_

The little girl nodded with exaggerated solemnity. _I won't tell anybody,_ she promised gravely. They had finally managed to impress upon the little girl that silent speech was for serious matters only. But a grin quickly stole back onto her features as she stroked Brooke's ears. "So soft!" she exclaimed, causing both of the older girls to grin.

The little girl turned to Kayla. "Do you have cat ears too, Big Sis?" she asked hopefully.

"_Wolf!_ Not cat," Brooke grumbled while Kayla smirked.

"Nope, I have something different." Kayla pulled off her knit fedora with one hand and used the other to fluff up the blue feathers on her head with a proud smile.

Nina stared up at the iridescent blue halo, her eyes widening once more and her face breaking into a delighted grin. "BIRD EARS!" she shrieked happily. Now it was Kayla's turn to sigh while Brooke laughed, but she obligingly bent down so Nina could stroke the feathers. "So pretty!" the little girl pronounced.

The back door opened a crack and Lavinia's head appeared. "Girls, your guests are coming up the front walkway—oh!" Her eyes swept both girls up and down as they guiltily rushed to put their hats back on. "I guess we'll talk about this later," she frowned, aiming a worried glance at Nina.

"It was an accident, Mom," Kayla explained. "But she'll keep it a secret. Won't you, Nina?" The little girl nodded earnestly as the doorbell sounded from inside the house.

_Let's go, Bird Ears, _Brooke teased silently as she headed for the back door.

_After you, Miss Cat, _Kayla smirked back as they filed inside. Beside them, Nina giggled loudly.

"Girls! Talk out loud or not at all," scolded Lavinia over her shoulder.

-o-o-o-o-

"So, um, where are we going today?" Brooke spoke up tentatively as the girls walked with Ed and Al down the sidewalk towards downtown. "What kind of intern things do you want us to do?"

Ed, hands jammed into the pockets of his red coat, responded a frown. "We're still trying to figure that out," he grumbled.

"Let's head into town and then decide," Al added more diplomatically.

They lapsed into awkward silence. While they walked, the girls kept sneaking sidelong glances at Al's armor. Finally Kayla spoke up. "Um, I hope this isn't a rude thing to ask, Al, but…your armor…is that like automail for your whole body?"

Al chuckled nervously. "I guess you could call it that. Ed and I kind of had an accident with alchemy when we were younger. He has automail too, on his right arm and left leg." Beside them, Ed scowled and remained silent. "But we don't really like to talk about it."

The girls nodded. "We were in a fire when we were little, and that's why we wear these collars," Brooke offered, "but we don't like to talk about it either."

Al smiled sympathetically. From the corner of her eye, Brooke saw that Ed had relaxed a little and was no longer scowling. "It's tough having automail when you're that young," he said kindly. Then he seemed to catch himself, hunching his shoulders further as his face returned to its stiff mask.

Another awkward silence passed as they continued walking, until Brooke spoke up again. "Hey, what's a chimera?"

Both brothers' heads snapped in her direction. "Why? Where did you hear that word?" Ed asked with forced casualness.

"From one of the soldiers that came to my house," Kayla answered. "I overheard him say that the military was looking for one. I couldn't tell what he was talking about," she added evasively, and Brooke gave her an approving nod. They weren't about to let on what they knew about Nina.

"In alchemy, a chimera is a hybrid of two animals," Al answered as Ed shot him a warning look. "It's really hard to do alchemy on living things, so alchemists who can make chimeras are really rare."

"Like mixing up a dog and a cat?" Brooke replied airily. "Why would anyone want to do that? It just sounds mean."

"It _is_ mean," Ed responded with a frown, staring off into the distance. "Nobody should do it."

_They know more about Nina than they're saying,_ Kayla said silently to Brooke. _Should we keep going?_

_OK, but we need to be careful,_ her friend answered.

"Hey," Kayla asked casually, "people are animals too, right? So could you make a chimera by mixing up a person and an animal?" Both boys jerked their heads up, their bearings tense. "I mean, if a person wanted to fly or something. That could be cool!" She laughed, making a joke of it to ease the boys' nervousness.

"Ha ha, only you would think of that!" Brooke played along.

The boys had relaxed somewhat. "It's not really something you should joke about," Al lectured gently. "If you tried that, the person could get hurt very badly, and there would be no way to reverse it." He paused. "At least none that we know of."

_So they don't know what happened to Nina when you found her,_ Brooke said to Kayla.

"That gives me an idea," Ed interjected suddenly. He cleared his throat and declared importantly, "It just so happens that Al and I are investigating chimeras right now."

"Brother!" Al protested, his eyes darting nervously from Ed to the girls.

"It's all right Al, we won't tell them any classified information. But what we need," he turned back to Brooke and Kayla, "is for you two to go to the military library and do some research for us. Look up everything you can find about chimeras." He pulled a pen and pad of paper from a pocket and commenced scribbling. "The Main Branch isn't far from here. I'm writing down the address and a note that'll get you in the door."

The girls exchanged glances. _Is he ditching us?_ Brooke fumed silently. _Well, I guess it doesn't matter—we might actually be able to find out what happened to us!_

_But a military library!_ Kayla countered, her eyes wide with apprehension. _Is it safe? What if someone recognizes us?_

"Are you sure this is OK, Brother…?" Al asked, reluctance in his voice.

"It'll be fine!" Ed beamed confidently, ripping the scrawled sheet of paper from his pad and handing it to Brooke. "We'll come back to get you at 5:00 P.M. sharp. Remember, since you're our interns you have to do whatever assignments we give you. So don't slack off or go anywhere else, OK?" He stared at them expectantly, arms folded across his chest.

"Fine," Brooke smiled through gritted teeth as she tucked the folded piece of paper into her pocket. "And if we get into any trouble for being in a military library by ourselves, we'll be sure to tell them _exactly_ who sent us there." Ed frowned, the two of them sharing a brief glare.

"It's around that corner, about two blocks down," Al pointed helpfully, looking slightly sheepish. "We'll see you soon." With that, the brothers turned and strode briskly down the street in the opposite direction.

"We _so_ just got ditched," Brooke muttered after them.

-o-o-o-o-

"That was mean, Brother," Al admonished Ed as they continued toward Central Command. "We both know there's nothing about chimeras in the military library. We've looked ourselves."

"So what? They don't want to do this dumb internship any more than we do." Ed responded breezily, his arms folded behind his head. "At least this way they'll have books to read. It's better than sending them to inspect sewer pipes or something."

"I guess," Al replied glumly. "Still, I feel bad lying to them. They seem like nice girls."

Ed shot Al a mischievous look. "_Do_ they, little brother? 'Nice girls.' So…you like them?"

"No no no, it's nothing like that!" Al responded hastily, waving his hands.

"Ha ha, if you weren't make of armor you'd be blushing, Al!"

"You're just trying to change the subject!" Al pouted. "Well anyway, we're here." They had reached Central Command's East Gate, where Ed flashed his pocket watch at the security guards for identification and let out a last snicker as they headed through the entrance.

Roy greeted them with raised eyebrows from behind his desk. "I was informed by Lieutenant Colonel Hughes that you two would be looking after a pair of young lady interns this morning. Don't tell me you're neglecting your duties?"

"Of course not," Ed scoffed. "We sent them to the library to do some research for us."

"You mean you ditched them? How ungentlemanly. You're never going to get a girlfriend if you act that way, Fullmetal—" Roy was rewarded with a torrent of profanity that only served to widen his smirk. He sat with his elbows propped on his desk, chin resting on his folded hands until Ed's sputtering ran down. "If you're quite finished," Roy continued unperturbed as he reached across his desk for a file folder, "it's actually convenient for me that you two are alone, since I have news that's not for civilian ears." He opened the folder and read from it: "The military announces that Shou Tucker, State Alchemist, was executed by firing squad at 0600 this morning."

Al gasped. "You mean they're covering it all up!" snarled Ed.

"Essentially," Mustang sighed. "And we've lost any chance we might have had to question him. However, I've made arrangements for you to question someone else who might have relevant information." He tapped the file folder's edge on the desk surface thoughtfully. "Remember that similar case I mentioned from twelve years ago? Well, _that_ suspect is still alive and in prison. Grand hasn't let me get anywhere near him since we arrested him, but you two are going to visit him this afternoon."

"But, um, why would the Brigadier General let us question him?" Al asked. "He knows you're Ed's commanding officer, and that he'll just report whatever he finds out to you."

"True." Roy leaned back in his chair. "But at my request, Hughes has been spreading rumors that Fullmetal hates working under my command—"

"Well that's true enough," Ed interrupted grumpily.

"—and that he might be persuaded to transfer under Grand's command instead—"

"Wait a minute!" Ed protested. "No way would I ever—!"

"_Relax, _Fullmetal. You're not transferring anywhere. But Grand doesn't know that, and in the meantime it was enough to persuade him to give you access to Dr. Morishita." After another moment's thoughtful hesitation, Roy slid the file folder across the desk to Ed. "He's at the maximum security prison. Find out anything you can about who else he was working with—and especially if there are still test subjects out there. Say or do whatever you have to get that information." His dark eyes were serious, his jaw clenched determinedly. "And keep your eyes open for anything strange. I'm counting on you two."

Behind the boys, Hughes burst through the door of the office. "Roy! The serial killer Scar has been sighted in the downtown district!" he exclaimed, out of breath from running. "We're going to need your help."

Roy immediately stood and grabbed his coat. "You boys are dismissed," he said as he swung the black overcoat around his shoulders. "Continue with your assigned mission. And stay out of downtown until further notice." He and Hughes rushed out of the office, leaving Ed and Al to stare after them in surprise.

-o-o-o-o-

The brothers had little time to ponder the mysterious serial killer. As they waited in the prison's visitation room, Al flipped through the file folder Roy had given them. "Brother," he gasped. "There were other little girls who were experimented on years before Nina! Two of them. Colonel Mustang's team almost rescued them, but they were too late." He exhaled sadly. "No wonder the Colonel wants to solve this case so badly."

Ed nodded grimly, fidgeting as his eyes flickered around the small, bare concrete room. They sat in chairs facing a thick glass window, looking into an identical room where the prisoner would be brought in. Both rooms had been safeguarded against alchemy: the ceilings were etched with transmutation circles designed to absorb and disperse alchemical energy. A sensible precaution for a jail that held alchemists, he supposed, but it would also limit his own abilities..._To do what?_ he asked himself sharply. Ed felt his fists clench, a little afraid of his own anger as he remembered how he had nearly beat Tucker to a pulp. _Do whatever you have to,_ Mustang had said.

Through the window, the boys watched as a door opened and two guards appears, escorting a tall, thin man handcuffed between them. Long black hair sprinkled with a few gray hairs lay over his shoulders, matching his neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. When he caught sight of the brothers, he inclined his head and gave them an officious smile. One guard pulled a chair away from the table as the other gestured for him to sit, almost politely; once the prisoner was seated, the guards left the room.

"Hello, young gentlemen," the man greeted them. "What can I do for you today?"

"_We'll _ask the questions, Dr. Morishita, " Ed began through gritted teeth. "What do you know about Shou Tucker? And experiments to turn little kids into chimeras?"

The man tipped his head back and laughed. "So we're getting straight to the point, are we? Well, lucky for you I was instructed to cooperate." His gaze traveled pointedly to Ed's right arm, then his left leg, then to Al's armor. "I see that you two are no strangers to _experiments_ yourselves. Human transmutation, if I'm not mistaken." His oily smile widened. "You committed the ultimate taboo to further your own knowledge and power. We're not so different, you and I."

Ed began to let fly a string of profanity, but Al rested a metal hand on his arm and gave him a restraining look. "Let's assume for a moment that's true," Al said evenly. "What taboos did you and Tucker commit, exactly?"

"Ah, Shou Tucker. My young apprentice. He was a brilliant theorist—a great help in my work—but not terribly skilled at transmutation. He could only make crude monsters, whereas _I_ was the one with the talent to put our theories into practice." Morishita leaned closer to the window, his mouth cracking into an excited grin. "Very young girls made the best test subjects. All that potential generative energy, it was almost impossible for the chimeric transmutation to fail. Later of course, once I'd mastered the skill, it became a simple matter to apply it to adults of both genders—" He stopped abruptly, cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. "I mean it _would_ have been a simple matter, in theory. I could hardly have continued my work while in prison, after all." He gestured with his handcuffs and smiled.

"Doctor," Ed growled. "What happened to the little girls you experimented on all those years ago?"

The man's smile faded. "I don't know," he answered with sudden seriousness. "They either escaped, or they were taken from me. The military doesn't seem to know either. Such a waste." He shook his head sadly. "I really wanted to continue experimenting on them as they matured."

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Ed lunged at the window, shouting obscenities. The tempered glass was thick enough to withstand the force of his automail arm, so he settled for pounding on it loudly. "You're an animal who deserves to be executed just like Tucker!"

Doors burst open on both sides of the glass, a pair of guards rushing into each room at the noise. On his feet behind his brother, Al was waving his hands and smiling submissively. "It's all right, officers, everything's under control here!"

"Sirs, both of you are going to have to leave!" one of the men barked authoritatively. "If you don't comply, I will call Brigadier General Grand here immediately." Al's shoulders slumped in defeat.

At the window, Ed aimed a last snarl at Morishita, who was standing up at a leisurely pace while his guards waited patiently. "Tucker executed, hmm? That's not what I heard," he murmured with a leering grin. "Pleasure meeting you boys," he added smoothly before turning and walking out of the room.

"You're just lucky there's a wall between us!" Ed yelled after him, then turned back toward the guards in their room. _"Fine,_ we're going," he hissed.

Outside of the prison entrance, Ed squinted up at the noonday sky, where rain-heavy clouds were just beginning to blot out the sun. He let out a long sigh. "I guess monsters really do exist, Al," he said sadly.

Al nodded. "Brother, for a man who's been in prison for twelve years, did Dr. Morishita seem kind of...clean and cheerful to you?"

"Now that you mention it, he did," Ed scowled. "And I didn't like what he said about Tucker, either. We'd better go report all this to the Colonel." A faint roll of thunder sounded in the distance as they turned and headed back toward Central Command.

-o-o-o-o-

In the library, Brooke slammed her book shut and pushed it across the table toward a large pile of discarded volumes. "This is stupid," she grumbled, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing the other patrons. "There's nothing about chimeras in this entire library!"

"Yeah," sighed Kayla as she closed her own book and laid it neatly on top of the pile. She had relaxed considerably since they had first arrived; they were far from the only civilian interns here, and none of the employees or patrons had glanced twice in their direction since they'd arrived. "Do you think Ed and Al knew it? Al did look kind of guilty when they left."

"They definitely knew," Brooke scoffed, folding her arms. "And I intend to have a little talk with them when they get back. _If_ they even bother to come get us."

Kayla frowned. "Well meanwhile, it's lunchtime and I'm starving. Want to go get something to eat?"

Brooke was on her feet before Kayla even finished her sentence. "Do I ever—let's get out of here!"

-o-o-o-o-

The girls were halfway to their favorite café on Main Street when the downpour hit, forcing them to take shelter under an awning at the entrance of a bank. "Doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon," Brooke observed. "Want to make a run for it? It's only another two blocks."

Kayla's stomach growled in response. "I guess that's a yes," she chuckled. She tugged her knit fedora down more securely over her ears, and Brooke did likewise with her beret. With an exchange of nods, the girls took off in a run down the block, laughing as the raindrops pelted them.

A loud booming _crack_ echoed through the air from somewhere nearby. The girls' eyes met as they slowed. "Was that thunder?" Kayla asked, looking around them in confusion.

"Maybe a big truck backfiring? I don't know. Come on, we're almost there—" But as they rounded the next corner they came crashing to a halt. The rain-soaked street before them was filled with soldiers, blocking all traffic and pedestrians. In the middle of the road, with his back to them, a black-haired officer stood holding a pistol pointed up in the air, smoke curling from its barrel.

"That's as far as you go," he called down the far end of the street in a clear voice.

"Hey, he's one of the soldiers who came to my house," whispered Kayla, scanning the crowd of blue uniforms with a shiver of apprehension. They kept well back from the soldiers, peering around the corner of a building so as not to be noticed. "And that blonde woman standing behind him—she was the other one."

"Who's he talking to?" Brooke demanded, craning for a look around the assembled soldiers. "He sounds nuts." They could hear a man's voice yelling back, something about _sacrilege _and _God's judgment._ Just then a tall redheaded soldier who was blocking their view of the man stepped back far enough to give them a clear line of sight, and both girls gasped.

"It's that guy!" Kayla exclaimed. The man before them was tall with dark-tanned skin and white hair, and a distinctive X-shaped scar covering much of his face. The mysterious man who had watched over and protected them when they were younger. "It's Mr. X!"

"No way—it looks like they're arresting him!" Brooke declared in alarm, her hands balled into fists. "Can we do something to help him? Cause a distraction or something?"

"Brooke, no!" argued Kayla, gripping her friend's arm and shaking her head firmly. "We can't take the risk of getting caught ourselves." She turned back to the street, straining for a better view. "Besides, we don't even know why they're after him. Those soldiers helped Nina, remember? They aren't evil. Maybe he did something bad."

"He's not evil either. He helped us." Brooke's fists clenched tightly; but she took no action, knowing Kayla was right. Whatever he had done for them in the past, he was still a stranger to them, possibly a little crazy. And probably capable of protecting himself in any case.

"I am the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang," the black-haired officer addressed the scarred man with more than a touch of arrogance in his voice.

"Yet another who deviates from the path of God!" Mr. X shouted back, his face full of rage. Kayla and Brooke exchanged worried glances; maybe their protector was more than just a _little_ crazy.

As they watched, Mustang turned behind him and tossed his pistol to the blonde woman. "Colonel!" she protested, but he dismissed her concerns with a wave of his white-gloved hand.

"You would still challenge me to battle, knowing who I am?" Mustang taunted the scarred man, who only smiled confidently.

"Kick his butt, Mr. X!" Brooke muttered under her breath, but her voice had lost some confidence. Kayla's gaze searched back and forth between the two men, genuinely conflicted. By now both men had dropped into a fighting stance. Mustang poised his right hand as if to snap his fingers; the scarred man made a fist with his own, and as the girls watched it strangely began to glow with red light.

"_Colonel!"_ the blonde woman yelled more forcefully, but it was too late; the men were lunging for one another. She sprang after Mustang and with a sweep of her leg, tripped him and sent him crashing to the ground just as the scarred man's glowing hand would have caught him in the face. In a continuing fluid motion she whipped both her guns forward and began to fire at Mr. X, who nimbly dodged her bullets and retreated down the block.

"They're really serious!" gasped Kayla as both girls stared in shock.

"Wow, that was—" Brooke's eyes swept back and forth from Mr. X to the blonde woman in amazement.

"What the hell are you doing, Lieutenant Hawkeye?!" Mustang exclaimed, furious.

"You're useless when it's raining. Please stay back, Colonel!" She trained her guns on the scarred man as he pressed his back against a building, each tensely waiting for the other to move. Behind her on the ground, Mustang was suddenly so chastened that he nearly looked ill.

"Oh yeah," the tall redheaded soldier called out, holding his hand out to catch the falling raindrops. "You can't make sparks when it's this damp, huh?"

Tired of waiting, the scarred man reached out to the wall behind him, and with a red pulse from his arm sent a deep fissure up all the way up the building's height. He quickly scaled the wall using the cracked surface as a handhold, heedless of the soldiers opening fire from below, until he had vaulted onto the roof and disappeared.

"Run! Get away!" Brooke urged after him in a whisper. From their vantage point at the corner they could see clearly where he had gone: he'd made a sharp right turn on the roof and climbed down the side of the building across from them, continuing in that direction. But the soldiers assumed he'd gone straight down the back of the building and were giving chase in the wrong way. "Come on!" Brooke tugged at Kayla's arm. "Let's follow that guy. I want to find out who he is!"

"Brooke—are we sure he's one of the good guys? I think he just tried to kill that Colonel Mustang guy!" Kayla protested nervously.

"If he did, it was self-defense. Come _on." _ Brooke urged, and Kayla allowed herself to be pulled into a run after the man from their past.

-o-o-o-o-

But by the time the girls caught up with scarred man, several minutes later and several blocks away, he had already found a new target.

He was down the block from them, staring into an alley with his right arm glowing. "Fullmetal Alchemist! In the name of God, thou shalt perish!" he bellowed at his unseen quarry.

"Oh no," muttered Kayla as they ran down the street toward him, breathing hard from running. "Isn't the Fullmetal Alchemist...?"

"...Ed," finished Brooke, her eyes wide and serious.

"Who are you? Why are you after us?!" they heard Ed's voice call from the alley.

"State alchemists profane the work of God!" Mr. X bellowed. "I am an agent of God, handing down his judgment!"

"STOP!" yelled Kayla. The scarred man snapped his head around in surprise. Without pausing, Brooke streaked past him into the alley, standing in between him and the brothers and holding out her arms out protectively. Kayla rushed in after her, backing her up.

"Get out of here!" Ed yelled. The alley led to a dead end; he knelt on the ground against the back wall, bruised and bloodied; next to him sat Al, the right arm of his armor cracked nearly to the point of shattering. "It's not safe! We'll handle this guy—"

Brooke ignored him and addressed Mr. X. "These guys might be jerks, but they're our friends!" she declared, aiming a challenging glare at his red eyes. "We won't let you hurt them!"

The scarred man's eyes went wide as he looked between the two girls, shocked recognition competing with the rage that contorted his features. "You should not be here. Be gone from this place!" he declared angrily.

"No!" Kayla barked back with unaccustomed forcefulness. "We know you're not evil. You saved both our lives." She gestured backwards toward the brothers. "But if we're worth saving, then so are they!"

Mr. X's arm continued to pulse with red light as he stared at them, conflicting emotions warring in his eyes. "Ishavala's will must be done," he declared through gritted teeth. His gaze narrowed on Kayla alone. _"You_ should understand more than anyone what State Alchemists have done to our people!"

Kayla's eyes widened. _He's saying I'm Ishvalan,_ she gasped silently to Brooke. _I knew it. _But her stance didn't waver as she stared at the man.

"You should live in innocence, and not witness what needs to be done here!" he spat.

"_No."_ Kayla repeated firmly. "What you're doing is wrong. I won't just walk away and let you hurt my friends!" She folded her arms over her chest, lifting her chin stubbornly.

"And neither will I," Brooke glared.

"_There he is—this way!"_ came a man's shout from down the block, and the unmistakable sound of a group of soldiers running toward them. With a growl of frustration, Mr. X took quickly surveyed the dead-end alley, then slapped his glowing hand onto the sidewalk. The girls hid their eyes as the concrete shattered in a brilliant flash of red light. When the light faded the scarred man was gone, a gaping hole in the sidewalk leading down to the sewer tunnel beneath.

"Down there, in the sewer!" A flash of blue uniforms appeared in the alley, jumping down the tunnel after him.

"Are you four all right?" The girls looked up to find Colonel Mustang looking them over with concerned eyes. Behind them, Lieutenant Hawkeye was staring at the girls sharply, her eyes flickering from Brooke to Kayla and back again.

"We're all right, Colonel," Al answered, cradling his damaged arm. "At least I think so. Aren't we, Brother?" Ed nodded mutely, staring down into the hole in the ground.

"All right. We'll regroup later." Mustang gave a brief nod to Brooke and Kayla. "I'll leave it to these young ladies to look after you two for the moment." Without another backward glance, he hopped down into the tunnel; Hawkeye followed a heartbeat behind him, aiming a last stare toward the girls before disappearing.

Once the four were alone again, Kayla exhaled and sagged against the alley wall behind her. "That was intense," she murmured. Beside her, Brooke held out a hand to help Ed to his feet.

"Thanks," Ed muttered as he accepted the hand up. "For stopping him from killing us, I mean. But what the hell was that? You two _know_ that guy?!"

"It's kind of a long story," Brooke sighed, her cheeks reddening as one hand rubbed the back of her head. "One we'd rather keep to ourselves."

Ed frowned in response. Behind him Al began to lumber to his feet, pushing himself up with his arms. But him damaged arm unexpectedly cracked further under the pressure and he stumbled, his helmet bumping into the wall next to him. He let out a gasp as the helmet came loose and fell from his shoulders, frantically scrambling to catch it as it fell.

"Al!" Kayla cried. "You're..." Al quickly clamped the helmet back onto his shoulders, but it was too late. The girls had seen the truth: his armor was utterly empty, with no head or body underneath. "How...?"

Ed's face had gone gray with dread, and Al's armored face looked frightened. "Please..." Ed began. "Please promise me you won't tell anyone what you just saw! If the military finds out what happened to Al, what we did, I don't know what they'll do. He's my little brother, I need to protect him. Please..."

Brooke and Kayla stared at the brothers in amazement. Neither girl was sure which sight was more shocking: Al's condition, or the fact that Ed, normally so arrogant and impatient, was literally pleading with them. The fear of the military reflected in his eyes was a feeling that the girls knew all too well.

_They're just like us, _Brooke heard Kayla say in her head, wonder in her silent voice. _Should we tell them?_

Brooke turned to Kayla and gave a single nod, no more words necessary. Then she reached up and pulled off her beret, shaking out her short brown hair and gray wolves' ears. Beside her Kayla removed her fedora, letting her blue feathers tumble down over her bright auburn hair.

"It's OK," Brooke promised with a mischievous smile. "Trust us—we won't say a word."

* * *

_* Morishita's notes were plagiarized and adapted from two real alchemy writings from the 15__th__ century, "Recapitulation of the Twelve Gates" by George Ripley and "The Animal Stone" by Samuel Norton, which are both posted on an alchemy web site called Levity. You can also catch a glimpse of "Recapitulation" in the FMA first anime, where it's written on the letter designating Ed as the Fullmetal Alchemist._

_Thank you for reading, and special thanks to everyone who's followed, favorited or reviewed! :D_


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